Deck the Halls, Bitches
by Rivendell101
Summary: One week before Christmas Lucy realizes she has a problem. In her frustration, she may or may not have told her entire extended family she was bringing a date to Christmas. She lied. Cana's solution? A Craigslist Ad posted by one Natsu Dragneel. Too much whiskey, crazy family members, and a multitude of awkward situations only serve as obstacles. There will be casualties.
1. A Dominatrix for Christmas

**AN: Part two should be up tomorrow! Please drop a review at the end and tell me what you think ;)**

 **Deck the Halls, Bitches**

 **Part One: A Dominatrix for Christmas**

* * *

It's a slow night at the Iron Dragon—which is ironic given the impending holidays. Usually there are more people looking to get wasted before having to visit the relatives and braving snowstorms. Or maybe that's just Lucy—and Gajeel and Lucy are busy wiping down the counter as the clock ticks passed midnight. Well, _Gajeel_ is wiping down the counter. Lucy is sitting on the bar and chatting with Cana and "shirking her responsibilities" says Gajeel.

Lucy rolls her eyes and tosses her right leg over the left, blatantly ignoring her grumbling coworker and continuing to chat with her tipsy friend on the other side of the bar. Cana's the only one left here anyway, so it's not that big of a deal. A slight health code violation, maybe, but unless Cana's been lying to her for three years and is secretly a health inspector, Lucy doesn't think there's anything to worry about.

"So what are you doin' over the holidays?" Cana slurs, wobbling slightly as she leans back on the legs of her stool. Cana's eyes narrow in concentration as she takes another shot of vodka, her tongue poking out slightly as she tries to balance on the back two legs.

Wrinkling her nose, Lucy's lips turn into a frown and she sighs, glaring half-heartedly down at the rag next to her thigh. Her gaze shifts back to Cana, who's looking at her expectantly while still trying to maintain her balance and not face plant onto the bar. Lucy groans. "Please don't remind me of break," she pleads. "I tried to schedule work over Christmas, but Gajeel's dad wouldn't let me." Lucy supposes she's a little bit ungrateful that she actually has the holidays off work. There are plenty of people who would love to go home and visit their families and take a much needed break.

Lucy is not one of these people. She'd rather be stabbed in the leg than go home for Christmas this year, because a) her family is absolutely bonkers, b) someone is probably going to wind up in the hospital like every other year, and c) she doesn't have a date. That last one wouldn't be a problem, except she's kind of spent the last six months telling everyone she was seeing someone, if only to get her dad off her back.

Fat lot of luck that turned out to be. She'd completely forgotten about that white lie until her father called her in the middle of a shift and Lucy kind of, maybe, accidentally promised that her nonexistent date would be coming home for Christmas. Oops.

Behind her, Gajeel mumbles something unintelligible, but before Lucy can politely demand that he not mumble, Cana lets out an indignant squawk. The bar stool slams back onto all four legs and Cana's palms slap down on the bar on either side of Lucy's legs.

"What do you mean you _tried_ to schedule shifts over break," Cana demands more so than asks. "Are you telling me you _want_ to continue working twelve hour nights shifts during the most hellish time of the year?" Cana looks about ready to leap across the bar and throttle her—which wouldn't be impossible. Cana's a very coordinated drunk. Though that probably isn't something to brag about.

"Of course I don't," Lucy huffs, crossing her arms and sending Cana a nasty look, which the brunette promptly ignores. "I would love to take time off. I just don't want to go home for Christmas." And scheduling shifts at that time was the only way to get out of doing so. Unfortunately, Gajeel's dad had to be a nice person and give her time off. Bummer.

Cana looks at her like she's just sprouted a second head. "Why the hell not?" Cana snaps, eyes narrowing in confusion. She mirrors Lucy's position, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring.

Lucy huffs, eyes rolling as she slips her legs underneath her to sit cross-legged. She really doesn't feel the need to explain herself to Cana. They're friends and all, but Lucy thought they were passed the questioning stage. Then again, it's probably only fair that Lucy share her family story, since Cana did tell her about the whole Gildarts thing.

She sighs, relenting, and Cana leans forward expectantly. "I don't want to go home because half of my family is batshit insane and the other half has a stick up their ass," she says simply, wincing at the onslaught of horrors from Christmas past. Behind her, Gajeel snorts loudly, so Lucy lifts the rag at her side and whips it at him blindly, smirking when she hits her mark.

Cana isn't as impressed. "And?" she prompts, waving her hands slightly and dragging out the word ever so slowly.

"And what?" Lucy questions, shrugging slightly. That's all there is to it really. Bad things happen at Christmas when both sides of her family collide. It's not so bad when they're kept apart, but when the Heartfilia and Dreyer sides of the family mix all Hell breaks loose and usually there's fire involved.

To this day, she still finds glitter around her apartment from the Christmas disaster of twenty-eleven.

And this year is going to be the worst one yet, because her Grandfather Makarov, bless him, not only decided to invite the entire family to his home, but also included a plus one in the invitation. As such, everyone and their mother will be bringing a date.

Awesome.

Cana huffs, drawing Lucy's attention back to her disgruntled friend. "Well, there _has_ to be something else," Cana stresses, playing with her empty shot glass with a frown. Gajeel had cut her off about five minutes earlier and Cana is, apparently, still sulking about it. "Everyone's family is a little bit crazy. I don't see why yours is so special." She shrugs, rolling the glass in between her fingers.

Lucy resists rolling her eyes once more and uncrosses her arms, fingers drumming against the countertop. "My mother's side of the family is a special breed of crazy," Lucy explains after several seconds. "And my father's side of the family is about as much fun as a doing taxes." Lucy's fingers continue to tap. "And when you put them together bad things happen."

"What kind of bad things," Cana whispers, as if it's some kind of secret. Lucy thinks that's kind of ridiculous. The only other person in the room is Gajeel and his only friends are the two of them and Levy, so it's not like he's going to go spill the beans about Lucy's wacky family.

It's takes Lucy exactly eight seconds to realize Cana means bad as in "illegal" and not "detrimental to Lucy's health"

Lucy closes her eyes and shakes her head, far too tired to deal with Cana's odd fascination with Lucy's criminal history—not that she has one. Yet. After this Christmas she might. "The last time we all got together, someone lit the tree on fire and I ended up with a sprained knee. The two weren't related and that makes it so much worse," she tells Cana, pursing her lips. "Plus, I kind of told my father I was bringing a date," she tacks on hurriedly, lips twisting into a grimace.

Admittedly, not the smartest move on her part, but it did get her dad off her back, so that's a plus. The downside? She doesn't actually have a date and, not only will her father be disappointed and try to set her up with some rich snob, Loke and Laxus will be complete assholes and mock her for lying about it. Those jerks.

Cana blinks at her. "Why would you do that?" she sighs, looking at Lucy as if she's the most exhausting person she's ever had to deal with. Lucy rolls her eyes. As if Cana's one to talk about exhausting people after all the shit she pulled throughout college.

Behind the girls, Gajeel makes a sound of agreement before hopping the bar and dropping onto the stool next to Cana. Both of them stare at Lucy expectantly.

"Because last year he tried to set me up with his colleague," Lucy says in disgust, a shiver crawling up her spine as she remembers that particular incident.

Cana, apparently, doesn't notice this. "Was he cute?" she asks curiously, wiggling her eyebrows at Lucy suggestively.

Lucy blanches, lips curving back in repulsion. "He was old enough to be my father," she tells Cana, glancing between her two friends. Gajeel looks about as disgusted as Lucy feels, and that makes her feel a little bit better about lying to her entire family. Just a little. Yeah, okay, lying probably wasn't the best solution, but it was better than the alternative at the time. It still is, only, now Lucy's without a date and her family is going to know she's a total liar.

A beat of silence.

"So… not cute?"

Yeah, stabbing herself is beginning to sound very tempting.

Gajeel merely rolls his eyes at Cana's remark, meanwhile Lucy fights back the urge to strangle her tipsy friend. She loves Cana, she really does, but sometimes she wants to knock her out and leave her in the trunk of a car as it slowly submerges itself in water. Is that too violent? Probably. "Cana!" Lucy snaps at her friend, who's begun to giggle obnoxiously at her own comment. "I have a real problem here!" she says in frustration, running a tired hand down the side of her face. "If I don't show up with a date, my dad is going to arrange my marriage in fear that my prime birthing years are waning," she whines, dropping her head into her hands.

Gajeel chokes on his spit at her words, a strange gargling sound leaving him as he begins to turn red. Lucy rolls her eyes, not bothering to make sure he's still breathing. He'll be fine, most likely.

Cana hums in thought tapping her chin as her brows furrow, a look of contemplation flitting across her face. "Well, he's not wrong," she tells Lucy, shrugging slightly. "You are in your prime birthing years."

Lucy's hands drop to her sides, staring at her friend in shock. "Cana!" she gasps, scandalized. How dare Cana agree with her father—he's the enemy! What ever happened to hoes before bros? Not that Lucy and Cana are hoes. Or that her father is a bro, because no bro would ever try to set her up with a forty year old man wearing a bad toupee.

It's official. Jude Heartfilia is not a bro.

"Can you be serious for once," Lucy pleads, staring down at Cana from where she's seated on the bar.

Cana just shrugs. "Craiglist that thing, bitch," she tells Lucy. For a moment, Lucy thinks it might be a joke, but there's an eerily sober look on Cana's face that Lucy has never seen before. It's almost surreal how dunk Cana is more helpful than sober Cana. Lucy thinks it's also a little sad, but she's desperate, so she'll take what she can get. "That's how I solve all of my problems."

Somehow that doesn't surprise her.

Shrugging to herself, Lucy pulls out her phone and opens the Craigslist app that Cana installed several months back. Lucy has never had a reason to use it before, but hey! What better time than the present!

"Do you really think looking for a date on Craigslist is a good idea?" Gajeel asks, bemusement creeping into his words as he glances between the two girls. Lucy doesn't look at him, far too concerned with choosing the category to find a date on Craigslist that won't end in her being drugged and tied up in a basement. She settles on the miscellaneous encounters category, immediately scrolling passed what looks like an ad for a dominatrix.

Huh. Lucy wonders how her father would feel if she brought home a dominatrix for Christmas.

Cana scoffs, crossing her arms as she shoots Gajeel a scathing look. "Oh, come on," she huffs, rolling her eyes. "What's the worst that can happen?" Cana asks.

Lucy scrolls passed another ad, this one asking for someone to "release their frustrations onto." Yeah, _no thanks_.

Gajeel glares right back at Cana, not impressed with her blasé response. "Kidnapping," he spits at Cana, crossing his own arms. "Murder," he snarls as Lucy continues to scroll.

"Don't be such a killjoy, Gajeel," Cana tells him, waving him off. Lucy clicks on a promising ad, blatantly ignoring her bickering friends. It's really not worth getting involved in.

There's a shuffling sound as Lucy continues to read the ad, a slight smile creeping its way across her face as Gajeel practically growls at Cana. "Better a killjoy than a drunk that gives shitty advice," he snaps back, all too unimpressed with her killjoy comment. Lucy doesn't know why he's so sensitive about people thinking he's not a fun person, but she has a feeling that it has something to do with him not having a lot of friends. Though, that's mainly because Gajeel is kind of an asshole, not because he's a boring, stick in the mud.

And she wouldn't have him any other way.

Cana slams a closed fist down onto the bar. "I give great advice!" she shrieks at Gajeel, looking about two seconds away from leaping off her stool and tackling the man to the floor. "You take that back!" she snarls.

Lucy figures this is the part where she cuts in and keeps them from murdering each other. Tis the season to inflict bodily harm on your friends, apparently. "I found one!" Lucy chirps, shoving her phone in Cana's face before she can pounce on Gajeel and do something stupid, like strangle him. Honestly though, Cana could probably get away with murder if she really wanted to and that scares Lucy more than a little bit.

"Wait seriously?" Cana gasps, ripping the phone out of Lucy's hand and pressing it absurdly close to her face, squinting to read the words. Gajeel looks less pleased by this announcement, but Lucy pretends not to notice this as she grins at Cana.

"Yup!" she claps her hands in excitement. "It says he's our age, requires no payment beyond me feeding him at least twice a day, lives in town, and he's a convicted felon, which my dad will absolutely hate!" This guy is practically perfect for spurning her father. His list of things he can do upon request are brilliant, from instigating political discussions, to fake proposing, to starting an actually fist fight on the lawn. He's everything her father's side of the family hates (save for Grandma Ida, who's actually a pretty cool old lady), and she kind of wants to piss them off and ruin Christmas. Just a little bit.

Lucy thinks she's found _the one_.

"Absolutely not," Gajeel snorts, as if reading her thoughts. Lucy blinks back at him as Gajeel's expression twists into a glare. For as long as Lucy has known him, Gajeel has had something like resting bitch face times ten. Something about his permanent scowl makes her think that someone spit in his drink at a vey young age and it make him lose his faith in humanity. Basically, Gajeel just looks like a very angry, threatening man, even if he is a big softy at heart. It doesn't help that he dresses like a punk and looks like he could bench both Lucy and Cana at the same time.

It still doesn't change the fact that he's actually a huge teddy bear that just wants to look out for his friends.

"I didn't ask you, Gajeel," Lucy snaps back, bristling slightly at his tone. She absolutely despises men telling her what to do, and Gajeel knows that. One she finished high school she was done letting people—especially her _father_ —boss her around.

Gajeel's teeth grind together and his jaw pops in frustration, but this time when he speaks it's less demanding and more openly concerned. "Is this really necessary?" he asks her, sighing heavily when she nods enthusiastically. Lucy's legs uncross and begin to swing back and forth wildly, knocking against Gajeel's knee none too gently. "Why?" he groans, sending her what she thinks might be a pleading look.

Lucy shrugs and snags her phone back from Cana, who's too busy grinning like the Cheshire Cat to notice the action. "It's either I find a date or stab myself in the leg to avoid my relatives," she explains bitterly, glancing back at the screen and debating the whether she should send the guy an email response or just go with stabbing herself, because going home alone is definitely out of the question. On one hand, potentially becoming a missing person. On the other hand, self-mutilation. Personally she'd go with the former. Cana probably has a tracking device on her phone anyway. "I'm merely choosing the less self-destructive option," she tells him, batting her eyelashes at her stoic friend.

"But does it have to be a stranger?" is Gajeel's response, his expression not shifting. She understands where he's coming from, she really does, but this is really no different than a blind date and Gajeel needs to tone back on the over-protectiveness.

Lucy rolls her eyes. "Well do _you_ want to go home with me over break?" she asks mockingly, opening her email and beginning to type out a quick message.

"I'm going home with Levy," Gajeel reminds her, crossing his arms and pouting. Lucy kind of wants to laugh. This will be Gajeel's first time meeting Levy's parents and she can tell that he's nervous about it. Hell, she probably would be too, if she was in his situation.

"Than yes, it is necessary for me to take a stranger home," she quips, squinting down at her phone. Besides, Cana's done that before and she's not dead yet.

"I'll go home with you," Cana volunteers suddenly, raising her hand so fast she nearly punches Gajeel in the face. He sends the tipsy girl a sour look, but then turns back to Lucy and begins to nod slowly, a look that's clearly telling her to take Cana home with her for the holidays crossing his face.

Lucy's lips purse as she looks at Cana, fingers freezing as her eyes narrow in thought. "Don't you have a girlfriend?" Lucy asks slowly, leveling Cana with a disapproving stare.

Cana shrugs. "She'll understand," she says, waving the question off.

Yeah, Lucy thinks with a roll of her eyes. Cana's girlfriend will definitely not thinking anything of her new girlfriend heading home with someone else over the break. Because that's not suspicious at all. Then again, if Cana's new girlfriend gets all huffy about it, maybe she's not the right one for Cana. "Besides, isn't Gildarts taking the day off to have lunch with you?" Lucy reminds her friend.

"I could ditch 'im for you," Cana tells her with no hesitation, sitting up straighter on the stool. Cana's eyes are beginning to look all too bright, and Lucy's fairly certain that she won't remember most of this in the morning. Drunk Cana makes a lot of promises that sober Cana can't keep. "You know I would," Cana coos, reaching out and patting Lucy's knee affectionately, causing her stool to wobbly.

Lucy giggles and pats Cana's hand in return. "Oh, I don't doubt that," she jokes, winking at her friend. Gajeel looks between them, a confused expression on his face, but he doesn't say anything.

"I don't hear a no," Cana sings, poking at Lucy's bare thigh and wiggling her eyebrows.

"I'm sending him an email," Lucy decides, tapping out a quick message that basically introduces herself and asks him if he'd like to help her ruin Christmas and give her father an aneurism. Just the usual date request.

Gajeel sighs, shaking his head slowly. "Lucy," he growls at her, eyes narrowing as his lips press into a tight line. "This is a bad idea."

She scoffs. "It's not a bad idea," she argues. She doesn't see what the problem is. It's just a ploy to trick her family into thinking she's in a relationship. What's the worst that could happen? Nothing can go more wrong that in did last year. Or the year before that.

"You want to bring a stranger into your house," Gajeel deadpans.

"It's not that bad," she replies. And really, it isn't. She's pretty sure her crazy slightly homicidal relatives can deal with a stranger in their home. Laxus could probably crush the guy like a bug if he really wanted to, and Mira has a mean right-hook. Lucy isn't worried.

"He's a convicted felon," Gajeel hisses through clenched teeth.

Okay, so maybe it's not the _best_ idea, but it's not like she has any other options. At least, not options she's willing to take. "Well when you say it like that…" she trails off sarcastically, blinking up at Gajeel innocently.

"Lucy!" he barks, glaring.

"Too late!" she shouts back, pressing the send button with more force than necessary.

Gajeel rubs a tired hand down the side of his face and sighs, shooting Lucy a dark look. "For the love of god, please tell me you're kidding," he growls, baring his teeth when Lucy barely spares him a glance before going back to her phone.

Lucy glances up briefly, a pout forming on her lips. "Gajeel," she whines, sending him what she hopes is a pleading look, "I'm desperate!" Okay, so she may or may not be a little drunk herself now that she thinks about it. She probably shouldn't have taken those shots with Cana earlier, she's _really_ starting to feel the affects of them. Hopefully this doesn't blow up in her face in the morning.

Cana snorts as well, waving off Gajeel. "Yeah, calm down, Iron Maiden, the guy probably won't even respond," she says confidently, patting Gajeel on the arm in mock comfort, though this doesn't seem to placate Gajeel, who sends Cana a steely look in return.

Lucy's phone vibrates as her email refreshes.

Cana and Gajeel look at Lucy with varying degrees of contempt.

Lucy clears her throat, smiling at her two friends a little bit too brightly. "He responded," she chirps cheerfully, reading his short response which merely consists of an agreement to help and a tentative meeting place for the next day. This is going a lot better than she thought it would. Excellent!

Cana blinks in surprise. "Well fuck me," she says before breaking out into loud giggles and nearly falling off her stool.

Gajeel groans. "At least let me come with you when you go to meet this guy," he begs, sending her a stern look.

Lucy pretends to ponder his request for a moment, if only to make him squirm. It's not like she's going to say no. If she did, Gajeel would probably just follow her anyway. After several seconds she holds out her hand for him to shake, grinning. "Deal."

* * *

Despite her initial excitement for the situation, Cana ends up joining Gajeel and Lucy for the meet up with this Natsu character (who she learned through email is a regular at the Iron Dragon and a former student at the college Lucy graduated from back in the spring). When she'd told the two of them of her plan to meet the guy at a local coffee shop, her friend nearly spit out her drink, having apparently forgotten about the previous night at the bar or just assumed Lucy was joking. Cana _insisted_ that she come with Lucy and Gajeel to the meeting, to "protect her from skeazy guys who want to axe-murder pretty, unassuming blondes." Cana's words, not hers.

After her initial response, the man sent her a quick reply, asking a little about her family and a tentative schedule of what the week would entail. She emailed him back a complete schedule of the typical disaster Christmas—which is less of a schedule and more of a _stumble though the day and try not to light anything on fire_!—as well as a complete essay on her family history: who everyone was, who to avoid, who to pick fist fights with, and so forth.

And that's how they ended up outside a quaint little coffee shop at ten in the morning, the three of them squished into Gajeel's truck as they run through their game plan one last time before heading inside.

"Are you nervous," Cana babbles suddenly, cutting off another one of Gajeel's stern warning. "I'm nervous," she tells them, face practically pressed against the window as she stares out at the coffee shop. Her fingers drum against the door frame, leg jiggling wildly.

Lucy sighs, running a hand through her hair in frustration. "Cana," she says slowly, sending her friend an equally frustrated look, "calm down. You don't even have to meet this guy," she tells her worried friend, shifting uncomfortably from where's she's pressed between her good friends, suppressing a groan. As much as she loves them, this is not where she wants to be at the moment.

Cana scoffs, flipping her hair over her shoulder as best she can in the tight space, successfully slapping Lucy across the face with it. Lucy vaguely notes that Cana's hair smells like cucumber. "Yeah," Cana agrees, "but my best friend does! He could be an axe murderer for all we know!"

Lucy doesn't have it in her to argue that the guy probably isn't an axe murderer. If he was, he would probably be in jail. Besides, she'd take an axe murderer over a fifty year old man any day of the week. "You know you were the one that suggested this," she reminds the frantic brunette, who merely levels her with a glare in return. Lucy throws her hands up in surrender.

"That was drunk Cana!" she hisses back, smacking Lucy across the shoulder. "Drunk Cana makes bad choices!"

Lucy doesn't have the heart to agree with her, even if it is insanely true. Drunk Cana was a constant source of pain in Lucy's college years, constantly getting the two of them in trouble every time they went out for the weekend. Drunk Cana is the reason Lucy almost got arrested in her junior year. To this day, she still doesn't know how Cana got a llama in their apartment, and frankly she doesn't want to know.

Gajeel isn't as tactful. "You've got that right," he grumbles, cutting the engine and swinging his door open in one fluid motion.

Cana snarls at him. "Shut up, Gajeel!" she spits. "You were supposed to be the sober responsible one," she shouts after him, scrambling to shove open her own door as Lucy slips out though the driver's side behind Gajeel, slamming the door shut behind her. Cana curses loudly as she throws open the door and pulls her scarf tighter around her neck, presumably glaring at Gajeel from behind her sunglasses. It's hard to tell.

Gajeel shrugs as he starts towards coffee shop. "Yeah, but Lucy doesn't listen to me," he grumbles, shooting Lucy a quick look as she struggles to keep up with his much longer legs. Cana lags behind them, making faces at the back of Gajeel's head. "Remind me again why you need to bring a date," Gajeel says, peering down at her and blatantly ignoring Cana.

Lucy blinks up at him. 'Because if I don't, my dad will try to marry me off to a stranger that's twice my age," she says slowly, watching in silent satisfaction as Gajeel's eyebrows shoot comically towards his hair line, his eyebrow piercing glinting in the sunlight.

Gajeel seems to mull this over, lips pressing into a thin line as he shoves his hands into his pockets. "Fine," he concedes, not necessarily happy about the plan, but at least now he'll probably stop bitching about it. "But if you wind up missing or worse, I'm going to track this guy down and rip his testicles off through his mouth," he tells her casually, sending her a pointed look.

Lucy can't say she was expecting anything different. Cana, apparently, wasn't quite as prepared for Gajeel's crass statement, despite the fact that she's been spouting far worse all morning. The brunette pulls a face and mumbles something like "that's gross" before pulling her scarf up over her mouth.

Gajeel ignores her once more. "And if he's skeazy, give me a signal and I'll storm over and beat him up," he says, rubbing the back of his head and refusing to make eye contact with her. Lucy thinks it's kind of sweet, in a way. Gajeel only threatens to beat people up when he really cares about someone. She honestly kind of touched by how much Gajeel cares, even if he would never admit it.

On the other hand, she also thinks he's being incredibly dramatic and needs to take a chill pill, or something.

"What kind of signal?" she asks him, mostly joking. She highly doubts they're going to need a signal. They'll be like ten feet away from each other at most. If Lucy really needs help, she can just, you know, scream for help. Or she could always throw hot coffee in the guys face. That's never failed her before.

"Bird calls!" Cana shouts from behind them, her voice slightly muffled by the fabric pulled over her. Lucy rolls her eyes and Cana starts to make loud bird sounds behind them, cackling every so often. A man passes by them and stares before scrambling away when Gajeel shoots him a nasty look.

Lucy sighs, already feeling a headache coming on. Why did she agree to bring these two along again? Right, because they insisted and wouldn't leave her alone until she agreed. "Guys," she huffs, cutting off Cana's noises, "just sit at the next table and listen to us talk okay?" She glances between them, but they both stare at her blankly. "Then you guys can do your creepy eavesdropping thing and not seem like complete freaks."

Gajeel makes a noncommittal grunt in reply and Cana frowns, crossing her arms. "Fine," she huffs. "You're buying me a frappe though."

"Here's ten bucks go wild," Lucy says, handing Cana the bill. "And buy me hot chocolate while you're at it!" she calls after Cana, who takes off as soon as the bill is in her possession, nearly hitting a man in the face as she shoves open the doors to the coffee shop.

Gajeel sighs. "Do you really think she needs coffee right now?" he asks her rhetorically, sarcasm biting at his words. Cana is already wired as is. She's kind of like a small, yappy dog, but without the yappy part most of the time.

Lucy grins. "Nope, but she's your problem now."

Gajeel blanches and the next five minutes are a blur. Cana practically shoves a hot chocolate in Lucy's hands, then shoves her onto one of the chairs in the shop, before plopping down at the table next to her and pulling out a bag of gummy worms. Yeah, Lucy has no idea where she got those. They then proceed to stare directly at her, because that's not suspicious at all. Cana also hasn't taken off her sunglasses, she notices offhandedly.

Awesome.

She should have just come alone.

Lucy sighs and pretends not to see them, instead focusing on her drink. Luckily, the wait isn't long.

The bell above the door chimes as someone steps into the shop, and she doesn't need to look to know that Cana and Gajeel have already zeroed in on the new arrival. It's quiet for a moment, and then Cana and Gajeel start whispering to each other at the next table, to quietly for Lucy to make out what they're saying.

She's paying so much attention to her friends, that she doesn't notice the figure standing across from her until he speaks. "Lucy?" a male voice asks gently, startling her out of her staring. Her head whips around and she comes face to face with a smiling man.

Stunningly green eyes meet hers questioningly, hoping he's confronting the right person. Messy, pink hair falls into the man's eyes, but he pushes the strands away absentmindedly as he blinks at her, drawing her attention to his left ear and the two silver hoops towards the top of his cartilage and below that, a black cuff. She briefly notices a lip piercing and the edge of a tattoo peeking out from under the sleeve of his sweater, but what she's really drawn to is the slight upturn of his lips that says rebel with a cause—which she _swears_ she's seen somewhere before.

Lucy realizes two things in that few seconds she spends staring at him. One, her dad is definitely going to hate him, and two, he's fucking _perfect_.

She always has had a thing for the bad boy type.

Realizing she's been staring for longer than what's typically considered appropriate, Lucy smiles and stands up, reaching a hand across the table for him to shake. "Hi," she greets, smiling wider when he takes her hand, "you must be Natsu!"

His smile grows as well, and for a moment she thinks something like recognition flits across his face, but it's gone as soon as it's there. "Yeah, nice to meet you," he tells her, sounding genuinely happy to be meeting someone new. He must be a people person, which is all the better for her. She wants her father to hate him, not her entire family.

So maybe she's being a little bit spiteful about all of this, but spite has never failed her in the past. Spite is the only reason she passed her awful biology course back in college—the one where her professor hated her and was just looking for an excuse to fail her.

Yeah, she hopes Jose Porla is still kept awake at night by the one time she verbally beat him down during a class debate— _absolutely smashed him_. That was a good time. She had gone out for drinks with Cana and Gajeel the night before and was in no mood for playing nice when he started badgering her in class. Hell hath no fury like a hung-over Lucy, apparently.

"Likewise," she responds, releasing his hand and dropping back into her seat. Though, he's a bit less of a stranger than she was expecting. She recognizes him from a few of her college classes, though she can't recall which, and remembers him coming to the bar a few times during her shift. If anything, he's more of a friend of a friend than a complete stranger. She can recall him hanging out with Gray, Juvia's boyfriend.

Natsu wets his lips, a hand running through his hair nervously as he does the same. "So what's the game plan?" he asks her, head cocking to the side curiously as he peers at her. There's humor swimming in his eyes and she wonders if he's excited about helping her ruin Christmas for her father.

Lucy sighs, deflating slightly. This would be so much easier if they just had to go up for Christmas Eve, eat some food, drop off some presents, and leave, but somehow she got roped into heading down early and socializing, which isn't the greatest situation considering her date is fake. " _As much_ as I would enjoy the get in get out approach," she tells him, huffing slightly as she shakes her head, "I, and subsequently _you_ , have been voluntold to head down early on Thursday and help set up the place." She sends him an apologetic smile. "I hope that doesn't cause any problems for you. I completely forgot that I was supposed to drive down early when I emailed you," she promises. And really, it did just slip her mind. Though, that's probably due to her being semi-drunk at the time and still debating if she should stab herself.

Which is never a good combination.

Natsu just shrugs, as if the prospect of being stuck with her and her family for two extra days isn't that big of a deal. Damn, she wishes she was that positive. This guy is just rolling with it and she was contemplating the pros and cons of stabbing herself in the leg. He's goals, Lucy decides, and in more ways than one. "I'm cool with that," Natsu tells her, oblivious to her slightly hung-over thoughts. "I have all week off of work, so time isn't an issue."

Is it bad that she's known him personally for all of five minutes and wants to climb him like a tree?

Lucy laughs, but she isn't sure if it's because of her thoughts, or the utter relief that comes with him being on vacation all week. "All right, that's good," she sighs, shoulders relaxing just the slightest, "that means I don't have to feel bad about dragging you into all of this," she tells him, only half joking. She kind of wants to let him know what he's getting into, but she also doesn't want to scare him off and send him running for the hills.

Her family tends to do that to people.

Natsu seems to take it as a joke, throwing his head back in laughter before smiling at her, amusement clear on his face. She hopes he's still laughing when he actually meets her family. "You make it sound like it's some kind of a warzone," he teases, eyes crinkling at the edges. He has a nice smile.

Lucy opens her mouth without thinking about it. "Well, with the amount of casualties we have every year, it might as well be" she tells him absentmindedly, shoving a lock of hair behind her ear and taking a long drink of hot chocolate, attempting to avoid the inevitable "my family is crazy" talk.

He chokes on his spit, laugh turning into a cough almost immediately. He sends her a bewildered look, his eyes furrowing in confusion as he stares at her, blinking rapidly. If Lucy didn't know any better she would assume she just sprouted wings and told him they were going to fly to her family's place. "Excuse me?" he sputters, a look of genuine concern flitting across his face as he stares at her.

"My family's kind of crazy," she tells him simply, shrugging halfheartedly. She's given up on tying to apologize for their weird behavior or sugarcoat their insanity to her friends. "Separately, they're usually fine, but when they all get together bad things tend to happen," she says honestly, setting down her drink with a sigh and waiting for him to bolt. She wouldn't blame him if he did.

Instead, he leans forward just the slightest, and whispers, "what kind of bad things?" as if it's some kind of secret.

She's kind of surprised—okay, _really_ surprised, but she tries not to think too much of it. "Mostly house fires," she says, faking cheer. Some people have annual traditions of baking cookies or going caroling. Lucy's family inevitably lights something on fire every year. Everyone has their own traditions, she supposes, they just got stuck with the one that continues to take years off her life every time she goes home.

Natsu shrugs, a wicked smile crawling across his face. "I'm okay with that," he tells her, sending her a quick wink. Lucy merely blinks back, beginning to wonder if this is a bad idea. Either this guy has a death wish, or he's just as batshit as the rest of her family. Well, at least he'll fit in either way! "Anything I should know in particular?" he asks her after a beat.

Lucy shakes her head, waving off the question. The long answer is yes, there's a lot of other things he should probably know. The short answer is—"I'll explain more about my family later," she promises, pulling the sleeves of her sweater down over her hands. "The most important thing you need to know is that I need to make this look as _convincing as possible_ in front of my father," she stresses, leveling him with a stern, if not frantic, look. "He won't be there until Christmas eve, though, so we have time." You know, to practice the whole handholding in public thing and come up with disgusting pet names for each other.

Just normal couply things.

Natsu is quiet for a moment, staring down at the drink Lucy didn't realize he had until just now. A frazzled Lucy is not the most observant, apparently. "Can I ask why?" he says gently, glancing up at her. Something in his eyes makes her think he understands family issues—he probably has some himself, considering he would rather go home with a stranger than see his own family over the holidays.

Lucy decides to let sleeping dogs lie and doesn't ask.

She clears her throat, suddenly feeling a lot less awkward about telling all of this to a stranger. For a moment, she mulls over exactly how to say it without making her father sound archaic—which he kind of is, but still. "He's been trying to arrange my marriage to a man twice my age," she settles on telling it like it is, not bothering to sugarcoat it or swallow back her contempt.

Her father actually wants to marry her off to some fifty year old man and she would gladly gouge her own eyes out with spoons before she lets that happen.

Natsu stiffens in surprise, eyes widening just the slightest, but otherwise doesn't react. It's basically the same reaction she had when she was first informed of her father's plan. Somehow, the though amuses her just the slightest.

"Oh," he murmurs after several long seconds, simply staring at her. "Would you like me to propose to you?" he asks suddenly, as if it's the most logical solution to her problem.

Immediately, Lucy's first instinct is to decline—it would only add an extra layer of chaos to an already bad plan, and she doesn't think she could fake being engaged all too convincingly. Sure, she's spent enough time watching Laxus and Mira act sickeningly in love with each other since he first proposed six years ago, but that doesn't mean she could pull that off herself. Maybe if it was Gajeel or Cana she could, but a complete stranger seems like a stretch.

She pauses before she says this, a pensive expression crossing her face. On the other hand, it would really piss off her father if she was proposed to by a man he didn't even know right in front of him. That would certainly make Christmas a lot more interesting as well. Of course, then she would have to stage an even bigger break up and things would get messy.

But it would _really_ make her father mad.

"I'll get back to you on that," she tells him after a few seconds of debate, sending him a soft smile. "And… thanks," she says as sincerely as she can manage, "for all of this, it means a lot," she tells him. "There's just one other thing." Lucy bites her lower lip, sending him a slightly nervous look, which he returns with one of confusion. She decides to just spit it out. "The ad said you have a criminal record. I don't mean to pry but…" she trails off, waving her hands slightly.

She just really doesn't want to invite an axe murderer into her house. Safety first, she thinks bitterly, imagining what her family is going to light on fire this year.

Natsu just waves her off. "No, I understand," he tells her. "I would want to know too." He clears his throat and looks away from her, a flush creeping up his neck. It takes Lucy a moment to realize he's embarrassed. "Arson," he says suddenly.

Lucy blinks. "What." Did she seriously invite another goddamn arsonist into her house?

He shuffles awkwardly in place, a sheepish smile on his lips. "Arson," he repeats. "And public indecency." Well this sounds like an interesting story. "Back in early college, I got drunk with a friend and we lit baseball bats on fire and ran streaking across campus," he tells her. shrugging slightly in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.

Lucy giggles, partly out of relief and hears Cana choke on her drink from the next table over. Serves her right. At least he's not an axe murder though.

She doesn't respond, so Natsu clears his throat and nods in Cana and Gajeel's direction. "So are they friends of yours?" he asks, voice slightly higher than before. She can understand why.

The question takes her off guard, but not by much. She figures it's sort of hard not to notice the two people staring at you with varying degrees of amusement and homicidal intent. One guess on which is which. "That obvious?" she asks, laughing. Cana at least has the decency to look away from the two of them, suddenly finding her drink very interesting. Gajeel, on the other hand, either doesn't have the tact or just doesn't care enough to look embarrassed. Good for him.

Natsu laughs again, and she realizes she kind of likes the sound. "Well, they've been staring at me since I sat down. I figured they must be your backup. Or just really dedicated people watchers," he adds as an afterthought, sending her a goofy smile.

Lucy nods in understanding. "Cana's a little bit of both," she tells him, jerking a thumb in the brunette's direction. "I think Gajeel is just waiting for the signal so he can come beat you up," she laughs, sobering when her friend sends her a nasty look. "Oh, and Gajeel wanted me to tell you that if I wind up missing, he's going to track you down and do something to you that I don't feel comfortable stating in public," she says cheerfully, batting her eyes at Natsu, who just laughs in response.

"Sounds reasonable," he tells her.

"Hey, Gajeel, Cana! Why don't you two come over here and introduce yourselves instead of being creepy?" she calls to her friends, waving them over.

* * *

 **AN: Again part two will be up Tomorrow! Please drop a review if you have the time! I would really appreciate it! Happy holidays everyone!**


	2. Meet the Dreyars

**Deck the Halls, Bitches**

 **Part Two: Meet the Dreyar's**

* * *

 **Thursday, December 22nd**

Lucy pulls the car into park as they pull up in front of her grandfather's house, but doesn't cut the engine quite yet. They're arrived right on schedule, surprisingly. Lucy picked Natsu up at nine and they managed to make it upstate in record time. Probably because Lucy wasn't dragging her feet to avoid her family. Well, not _as much_. She loves them, she really does, but sometimes they're just too much.

Thankfully, they haven't run into any trouble yet, but then again, they also haven't had to interact with any of Lucy's relatives yet. Though, that's looking a lot less daunting than it did a week ago. While Natsu and Lucy haven't become best friends overnight, they've certainly become rather friendly in the week they've known each other outside of just "that friend of my friend." After she invited Cana and Gajeel over to talk the four of them actually had a rather lengthy discussion that ended in them being kicked out of the coffee shop for loitering. After that, the four of them had gone to a local park to continue chatting.

They hung out frequently over the week, if only to become more familiar with each other in order to not be caught in a lie. She's not sure if it's just because Natsu seems like an open, friendly person, but she found it rather easy to connect with him—more so than most, anyway. Thankfully, they had managed to bypass the awkward, middle school friendship questioning stage, in which they exchanged trivial information like their favorite colors and what they want to be when they grow up. Instead, they mostly exchanged college horror stories and bitched about the professors they shared.

This could actually work, Lucy thinks to herself, sending Natsu a smile. He returns it, his entire face lighting up in excitement as he rolls his shoulders, obviously prepared to charge right in and face her family. She snorts, shaking her head at his optimism. The poor guy has no idea what's waiting for him on the other side of that door, bless him.

"Okay," Natsu says seriously, unbuckling his seatbelt and turning to face her fully, a determined look on his face. His brows furrow as he stares at her for a moment and wets his lips. "Lets run through this one more time," he implores, gesturing towards her with an ungloved hand.

Lucy doesn't know how he can walk around without gloves on when it's negative degrees outside, but she's not going to have any sympathy when his fingers freeze off. She snorts silently. Frostbite would definitely be a great first impression.

"Makarov," she decides, choosing an easy person to start. Lucy unbuckles her own seatbelt and shifts in her seat, wiggling her cold toes with a frown.

Natsu doesn't miss a beat. "Your grandfather," he recites, crossing his arms and staring out the front window, squinting at the house. Lucy thinks she sees a curtain moving, but that might just be her imagination. "He's about the size of an elf," he starts, ticking the facts off on his fingers, "makes really bad jokes, and under no circumstance am I allowed to take alcohol from him, because it's probably vodka mixed with yogurt." His expression twists into one of absolute disgust and he turns to her with a queasy, yet baffled look. "Do I want to ask?"

Giggling, Lucy shakes her head, biting her lower lip to keep herself from completely cracking up. "No," she laughs, "you do not." She hums to herself for a moment, trying to think of the next relative she should quiz him on. "Ivan," she says, lips twisting into a frown as her mood immediately sours just the slightest. God, she wishes he wasn't coming down this year. Doesn't he have better things to do than ruin everyone's Christmas?

Asks Lucy, who's planning to ruin her father's Christmas. Is she a hypocrite? Most definitely. Does she care? Not at all.

Natsu hesitates, teeth pulling at his lip ring absentmindedly as he mulls over the name. Lucy watches in apt fascination as his tongue slides across the metal, briefly wondering if the ring is some kind of substitute for an oral fixation. Oh yeah, she still wants to climb him. Like, a lot, but that will definitely have to wait until she's not within one-hundred feet of her relatives at all times. "Your uncle," Natsu says, breaking her out of her stupor and causing Lucy to turn bright red in embarrassment. Natsu doesn't notice, too focused on the task at hand. "He's married to a lady named Sylvie, and they're both assholes," he recites calmly, repeating Lucy's choice words from earlier that week. She stifles a grin. "Ivan will probably glare at me the entire time, but I shouldn't take it to heart, because he hates everyone. And Sylvie will take one look at me and decide I'm not worth her time," he finishes, sending her a sarcastic thumbs up.

Her family is made up of wonderful people.

"Good," she tells him, "now, tell me about Laxus." She's kind of impressed by how Natsu is taking everything in stride. He seems perfectly happy with doing whatever, so long as she feeds him three meals a day. She couldn't have asked for a better partner in crime for this holiday season.

Natsu clicks his tongue. "Your cousin. He's married with two kids and could probably snap me in half if he wanted to, but it's the wife I should watch out for." He casts a nervous glance towards the house before turning back to her. "Their kids are sweet and will probably ask me a lot of strange questions. What are their names again?" he asks her suddenly, running a hand through his messy hair.

Yesterday, he asked her if he should bring a comb with because his hair is always a disaster. She thought it was sweet of him to be so concerned, but told him not to worry about it. Mostly because he really didn't need to impress anyone, given the circumstances, and partly because Lucy thinks it's stupid to change things about yourself for other people who don't give a damn about you. Also, she kind of likes the messy look on him. He manages to pull it off nicely.

"Vasilisa and Yuri," she tells him, smiling fondly as she thinks about Laxus and Mira's young twins. At five years old, the pair are adorable little troublemakers with a strange fascination with shoving things into light sockets. Lucy blames Laxus for that. He's probably enabling them. What a horrible father.

A frown twists at her lips. She hasn't seen them since their birthday back in August. Honestly, Lucy would love to be able to see them more often, but gas money is expensive and half the time she can barely even pay the rent. Thankfully, she'll be able to see her favorite little monsters again for a few days. She hopes they'll be excited to see her, too.

Her lips quirk up at the edges.

If Natsu sees her shifting mood, he doesn't comment on it, though he does bump his fingers against the back of her hand briefly, drawing her attention back to him. "Right," he murmurs, "and then there's your other cousin Loke and his girlfriend Aries, yeah?"

Lucy nods, wincing a little and suddenly feeling very, very bad for Natsu. Out of all of her relatives, Loke is the most likely to give him a hard time. While her dad will just glare and send her a vaguely disapproving voicemail a few days after Christmas, Loke is more likely to _openly_ criticize Natsu on everything he does. And Loke can be kind of a prick about it at times. Lord knows how many boyfriends of Lucy's he's scared off over the years.

"Yup," she replies, popping the 'p' loudly and crossing her legs beneath her as best she can in a car. "Loke hates all of my boyfriends because he thinks I'm too good for them," she warns, "so be prepared for him to grill you and look for any way to make your weekend miserable." She sends Natsu a fake cheerful look and watches as he blanches. He's probably rethinking his life choices right about now. Too bad it's too late for that. "Aries is sweet though," she continues, a smile flitting across her face as she thinks of Loke's well-mannered girlfriend. "If you get on her good side she can probably get Loke to lay off." Yeah, Aries will definitely be keeping Loke occupied this weekend. Maybe in more ways than one.

Suddenly, Natsu frowns, his eyes narrowing in bemusement as he stares at her. She's about to ask what's wrong—if she has something on her face, because that would be embarrassing—when he speaks up. "Why do all of your cousins have names that start with L's?" he asks, head cocking to the side cutely as he gives her a once over.

She blinks back, not expecting that question. "We think it was a conspiracy," she settles on, not sure how to explain it. The Dreyer side of the family is just weird. That's all there is too it. They're just weird people who happen to like names that start with "L." Thank goodness Laxus didn't name the twins like that, she would have had to kill him.

Natsu nods. "Fair enough."

Lucy shuts off the car. "Loke's parents won't be coming down this year, because they're on holiday in Sweden, so you won't have to worry about them," she tells Natsu as she opens her car door, figuring they've spent enough time dawdling.

Natsu does the same. "Anyone else?" he asks, peering at her over the roof.

Lucy nods and heads towards the back of her car, fumbling with her keys as she nears the trunk. "Mira's siblings, Lisanna and Elfman are coming down as well," she states, clucking her tongue as she inserts the key into the lock. "And I think they're both bringing dates?" Lucy frowns, trying to remember if that was something Laxus had mentioned the last time she sent him a text. "I haven't met either of them, but Lisanna and Elfman are both friendly enough, so I wouldn't worry about them at all. Just agree with everything Elfman says and you should be fine," she snickers, thinking about how boastful Elfman can get when he's excited. "And don't bring up politics when he's around. Even if he agrees with you, he'll still turn it into an argument."

Natsu huffs a small laugh at that, and Lucy curses when she just can't manage to open the trunk. Natsu places a hand on her hip, surprising her and sending a jolt up her spine, then nudges her out of the way and wiggles his fingers, clearly asking for her keys. Lucy rolls her eyes, but obliges.

He sends her a wink as he takes the keys. "And the other side of your family?" he questions, crouching down to get a better look at the trunk of her car. The stupid thing always pitches a fit about being opened. What a jerk.

Lucy just shrugs, leaning against the side of the car, unsure what there is to say about the other side of her family that isn't crass or makes them sound like rich jerks. She decides to hell with it. They are rich jerks. "My dad's an asshole," she says simply, watching as he fiddles with the key just like she had. "Do everything you can to piss him off, he'll hate it, but he won't want to start an argument in front of everyone." Lucy frowns, pouting when she hears the lock click, the trunk successfully popping open under his long fingers. She figures he must have magical hands. "My grandmother Ida is nice," she continues, smiling when he hands her back her keys. "She doesn't really care much for keeping up appearances, so you won't have to watch your toes around her." Natsu hands her a bag, and she murmurs a quick thank you before continuing. "But don't let her anywhere near Makarov's alcohol. Or just Makarov in general."

Natsu shoots her a glance as he pulls out his own bag. "Do they not like each other?" he asks, voice slightly muffled by a sudden gust of wind.

Lucy shivers and wraps her arms tighter around herself, shifting in place as she waits for him to gather his things. She shakes her head. "No, my grandmother just a thing for Russians," she tells him. He looks at her, amusement twinkling in his eyes, but Lucy's expression is serious. His eyes widen when he realizes she isn't joking. "Speaking of which," she continues, "if she mentions anyone named Sven get out of there immediately."

"Who's Sven?" he asks, closing the trunk.

"Possibly my biological grandfather," she tells him, giggling when he stumbles and sends her an odd look. "They had a very passionate love affair just before my grandmother was married to my grandfather, and she will tell you about it in excruciating detail if she gets the chance." Lucy shudders, suddenly recalling the horrible memories of her tipsy grandmother recounting her whirlwind relationship. That was something she _never_ needed to know about.

Natsu wrinkles his nose, a vaguely disgusted expression slipping over his features. "Sounds like fun," he mumbles sarcastically, pulling his jacket tighter around himself. "And the others?"

"My uncle Robert and Aunt Giselle will probably be too busy taking care of their three kids to pay any attention to you, but if they do, Uncle Robert will only talk to you in noncommittal grunts and get angry when you don't understand what he's trying to say," she warns him. It's always best to just ignore Uncle Robert. He never has that much to say anyway. At least, not anything important. "Don't talk politics with him either."

Natsu snorts, shouldering his overnight bag. She's not sure how much he brought with him, but she hopes he packed an extra shirt. God knows he'll probably need it by the end of the week. "He sounds like a prize," he quips, staring down at her.

Lucy hadn't noticed it before, but he's actually quite a bit taller than she is, at least a head, if not more. Huh. She blinks up at him and he shoots her a smile.

"And Uncle Rod is… Uncle Rod." she tells him, neither of them moving from their spot by the car. Logically, it would be a hell of a lot warmer inside, but suddenly she feels frozen to the ground, utterly stuck in place. "I don't know what to say about him really," she admits, still staring up at Natsu. "Three years ago he went on a quest to find himself and now he thinks he's found spiritual awareness." Natsu barks out a laugh suddenly and Lucy can't help but grin back at him. "Sometimes he speaks in riddles, just try to answer them the best you can."

Natsu shakes his head, a laugh still wracking his body. "What the hell is wrong with your family?" he ask her, eyes glinting with mischief.

Lucy just shrugs. "I ask myself that everyday," she tells him, before grabbing him by the wrist and tugging him towards the nice, warm house that they've been awkwardly standing in front of for at least ten minutes now. She's surprised that no one's come out to make sure they're still alive. Then again, someone's probably been watching them this entire time, so she's not all too shocked. "Now come on, Boyfriend," she giggles, "it's show time."

Natsu smirks down at her, allowing the smaller girl to lead him towards the big house. Lucy nearly slips on a patch of ice, but he steadies her with a firm hand on her shoulder. She gives his wrist a squeezing in thanks, still smiling at him and he shakes his head, laughing under his breath. "Does this mean I get to call you 'Girlfriend?' " he jokes, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Showtime indeed.

Lucy rolls her eyes, but smiles nonetheless. "You can do whatever the hell you want," she tells him, releasing his wrist, but leaving her hand outstretched between them. He quirks a brow, confused, and merely stares at her gloved hand. Lucy rolls her eyes again, wiggling her fingers expectantly. "Hold my hand, dammit," she tells him, huffing slightly.

He sends her an odd look, lips twitching at the corners, but complies, fingers slipping through hers easily. He gives her hand a squeeze as he falls into step with her. "Why do I have to hold your hand?" he asks, leaning down towards her just the slightest, his breath warm against her ear.

"Because they're already watching," she informs him, glancing up just in time to see the curtains on the second floor flutter as someone releases them. "Five dollars says one of them opens the door before we knock," she jokes, giving his hand a squeeze in return.

He ponders this for a moment, lips pursing and brow furrowing just a tick. Wetting his lips, Natsu glances at her out of the corner of his eye. "You've got yourself a bet, Sweetheart."

Lucy fights down a smirk. It _seems_ that her date is a bit of a gambler— _hell_ , this whole situation seems like quite a gamble—but no matter. She doesn't mind a risk taker. Especially when she knows she's going to win. She gives his hand a gentle tug and leads him towards the front porch, smirk melting into a grin as they approach the door.

No matter how crazy her family is, or how much she complains about them, Lucy really does love all of them, even the one's she's not technically related to. And it's been so long since she's seen all of them in one place. Usually, it's only one or two she gets to see at a time, all of them being in the house at once is few and far between.

Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. She would probably have a heart attack if they had something like weekly dinners.

There would be so many fires.

They make their way up the steps, Lucy swinging their entwined hands absentmindedly, unaware of Natsu's eyes on her. She pauses in front of the door and sends him a quick look, silently asking if he's ready for what's bound to be a crazy couple of days. Natsu grins back, eyes crinkling at the edges and that's all the answer she needs. It's game time. Natsu wiggles his fingers suddenly, squirming out of her grasp as they stand there awkwardly in front of the door. It's a wonder no one's come out to check on them yet, considering someone _was_ watching them from the window like a creep. She sends him a questioning look in response, but he merely winks back before sliding in closer to her side and snaking an arm around her hips, pulling her flush against him.

Lucy blinks up at him as her simply stares back, eyebrows wiggling suggestively. She rolls her eyes good-naturedly, lips twitching at the corners.

That's when the door swings open.

Lucy's head snaps around, her eyes widen as she meets the gaze of a decisively grumpy Laxus who only has eyes for Natsu. Speaking of, Natsu shrinks back slightly at the appearance of the older, much taller man. She doesn't blame him. Laxus's glare curdles milk and makes babies cry. And not necessarily in that order.

Laxus doesn't even spare her a glance as he leans against the doorframe, blocking their entrance as he sends Natsu the most apathetic look she has ever seen. Lucy rolls her eyes again. Laxus isn't as bad as Loke when it comes to Lucy's boyfriends—as in, he doesn't intentionally sabotage her dates or threaten to murder them in their sleep. Usually, he makes a threatening first impression, tries to scare the shit out of the guy, and then lets it go, thank god.

In a way, it's like ripping off a Band-Aid. It stings like a mother fucker for a few seconds, but then it just goes away.

Too bad Loke isn't as kind, but no, he's more like a damn full body cast that she can't seem to get rid of. That jerk.

Loke, she decides, is also not a bro.

"So who the fuck are you?" Laxus asks suddenly, crossing his arms over his chest and peering down at Natsu. Laxus straightens his back, appearing even taller than he already is. It doesn't help that his standing a step above the two of them, allowing the older male to tower over the both of them.

Lucy merely huffs at the display of alpha maleness, utterly unimpressed with Laxus's display and the way Natsu has also straightened his back in an effort to appear taller. She snorts, shifting her weight to her right leg and unintentionally bumping her hip against Natsu's. If anything, this just causes Laxus's expression to sour even more.

Natsu, however, is completely flabbergasted by Laxus's shitty attempt at a greeting—Lucy keeps telling him he should work at Hallmark, but he never listens—and has no idea how to respond to something like that. Frankly, she doesn't blame him. "Excuse me?" he sputters, looking mere seconds away from starting a fist fight on the lawn as his fingers twitch against her side.

Yes. That would be the absolute perfect way to meet her family. When in doubt, fistfight it out. Violence is always the answer. Except in calculus. Well, maybe more so in calculus.

"Laxus," Lucy says, a low warning in her tone as she stares up at her older cousin in annoyance. Why couldn't she have been born into a nice, normal family that didn't try to pick fights with everything that moves? That would have made her life a thousand times easier.

Then again, her mama did tell her that nothing easy is ever worth it. It's the hard things in life that make you who you are. Bless her.

Laxus finally looks at her, but only for a moment. He clears his throat loudly, rolling his shoulders. He doesn't even have the decency to look apologetic. "Sorry," he says to Natsu, not sounding sorry at all. "Who the _hell_ are you?" he asks again, stressing the replacement swear and sending Lucy a brief victorious look.

Lucy swears both of her cousins are babies, never mind that this one is married with kids. How Mira puts up with him, she has no idea.

"Don't be so rude," she hisses at her older cousin, reaching out and whacking him across the shoulder before he realizes it's coming.

"Ouch!" he yelps, sending her a glare with no heat behind it. Lucy snorts, knowing it didn't hurt him in the slightest. She once saw Laxus take a bar stool to the back of the head and barely feel it. Though, that might have been because he was shitfaced at the time. Regardless, he needed three stitches in the back of his head and had a nasty concussion that he couldn't even feel. Sometimes she doesn't think he's completely human. "Lucy, stop it!" he growls down at her, expression half-pouting, half-exasperated.

Oh, he's the exasperated one? She's been here all of five minutes and he's only said a collective five words to her and started a weird, territorial alpha male thing with her fake date. She's the one that gets to be exasperated, not him!

Huffing, Lucy crosses her arms and sends Laxus the nastiest look she can manage. At her side, Natsu blinks down at her, unsure what to do with himself at the moment. Is he supposed to answer the question or? She ignores his gaze, instead focusing on her insanely rude cousin. "And you guys wonder why I never bring a date," she snaps at him, suddenly feeling very exhausted. Granted, she's only been awake for a good nine hours. There's no reason she should be this tired already. And it's only day one.

Laxus smiles back, his hard expression melting into a more teasing one. "I just thought it was because you couldn't get a date," he replies, something light creeping into his voice as he blinks down at her innocently.

It takes all of her restraint not to rip his smile straight off his face.

Lucy gasps, taking offense to the insult. Lucy is _great_ at dating, it's her extended family that messes it all up. Well, maybe it's a little bit her. She is kind of a handful. "I _choose_ not to date," she snaps back at Laxus, increasingly aware of Natsu's arm around her waist and the way his thumb in unconsciously slipping back and forth across the bottom of her ribcage. It kind of tickles, honestly. "Between you, Loke, and Gajeel I have enough obnoxious men in my life," she tells Laxus, sending him a flat look.

Laxus glances down at Natsu's arm slung around her hips, then at the other man himself. "Well, you're dating now," he grumbles, eyes on Natsu. His expression softens ever so slightly, just enough for Lucy to notice it, though she doubts Natsu does. Lucy has the benefit of knowing Laxus for her entire life, after all.

And just like that, she thinks, the Band-Aids been ripped off. About damn time, too.

She relaxes just the slightest, leaning further into Natsu's side. For show, of course. "Yeah, I am," she tells her cousin, a slight edge to her words. She's not sure why she always feels the need to pick a fight with her cousins. She's usually not this confrontational. It must just come with being a Dreyar. Everything is fighting words when it comes to this family. "Now, are you going to introduce yourself?" she asks him, looking at him expectantly.

Laxus purses his lips, appearing to ponder her question for a moment. Her eye twitches. "Nope," he decides suddenly, gaze sliding back to Natsu without warning. "Now, who the hell are you, Dye Job?" he asks, narrowing his eyes at Lucy's partner in crime.

Natsu frowns at the new nickname, lips forming the words silently as he stares back at Laxus. Then, he simply shakes his head and sighs, holding out a hand for Laxus to shake. "Natsu," he says simply, wetting his lips.

Laxus stares back at Natsu with no intention of shaking his hand, so Natsu lets it drop back to his side with a sad "thwap." Lucy kind of wants to crawl into a hole and die.

"That's great," Laxus says, "I don't care." Natsu blinks at him in surprise, looking mildly offended about being dismissed so quickly. Lucy just sighs for what feels like the millionth time today. "I've got two rules," Laxus tells Natsu sternly. "One, you treat her well, or I'll kick your ass. Two, no inappropriate touching while I'm in the room, got it?"

Lucy slaps a hand to the side of her face, groaning in embarrassment. The boys ignore her.

Natsu nods and squeezes her waist just a little bit tighter. "You don't have to worry about the first one," he promises, face breaking into a smile so heartbreakingly honest that she has to look away. "I have no intention of hurting her." There's a slight twinkle of mischief in his eyes that Lucy misses. "Besides," he jokes, "I've already had two people threaten to rip my balls off." Laxus looks weirdly happy about that, but Lucy doesn't want to ask. Natsu clears his throat suddenly and leans forward just slightest, so he's practically in Laxus's face. "The second one might be a little bit harder to follow, though," he faux whispers, sending Laxus a wolfish grin.

Laxus isn't quite as amused and looks about two seconds away from punching Lucy's not-boyfriend in the face for his comment. Lucy immediately wiggles her way between them, still caught in Natsu's embrace. She stabs a finger at Laxus's chest, causing him to take a half-step backwards to avoid her pointy nails. Natsu's fingers still against her sweater.

"Laxus, if you punch him I'm telling Mira," Lucy warns him, placing her hands on her hips. For a moment, she feels bad about pulling the wife card, but considering the fact that he was probably just about to start a fight, she thinks she'll get over it.

Laxus shrinks back just the slightest at the mention of his wife, his eyes narrowing at Lucy. "You wouldn't," he says, attempting to call her bluff, there's a waver in his voice though, a seed of doubt being planted somewhere in the back of his mind.

"Yes, I would," she tells him, worming her way out of Natsu's arms and opening her own to Laxus. "I didn't even get my hug from you yet," she reminds him, pouting slightly. She hasn't seen Laxus in over four months and he's more concerned with antagonizing her boyfriend than saying hello to his favorite cousin. She's hurt, she really is.

Laxus sighs, eyes rolling as his expression twists into a smile. "Come here, Squirt," he says before scooping her into a tight embrace. Lucy smiles back as she throws her arms around his neck, having to stretch up on her toes to reach him. Laxus huffs a laugh and lifts her straight off the ground, her feet dangling a good foot off the ground he's so much taller than she is. He gives her a tight squeeze that's nearly enough to bruise her ribs before setting her back on her feet. He sends her one last smile, before glancing at Natsu over her head. "Behave, Punk," he says sternly, disappearing into the house.

"Yes, Sir," Natsu calls after Laxus's retreating form. Lucy sighs. One down, one to go. Natsu turns to her with a bright smile, as if their recent conversation hadn't bothered him at all. "Well, he's a peach," Natsu jokes, jerking a thumb in her cousin's direction.

She just rolls her eyes, hands on her hips as she quirks a brow at him and sends what she hopes is the most utterly unimpressed look she can manage. "The second one might be hard to follow?" she mocks him, fighting to keep her lips from twisting into a smile.

"What?" Natsu asks, shrugging innocently, though he can't keep the smile of his lips. "Isn't that something any guy with a pretty girlfriend would have trouble following?" he teases, gesturing for her to enter the house.

She snorts, shaking her head. "You were antagonizing him," she accuses. And it worked to. She has to wonder if Natsu was actually looking for a fight or just testing how much he could get away with.

Natsu laughs, stepping in after her and closing the door gently behind him. "It's no fun if you don't," he tells her, pressing a palm flat against her spine. "Besides," he says, leaning down to whisper in her ear, lips just barely brushing her skin as he speaks, "rules are meant to be broken."

Lucy tilts her head, peering up at him curiously. Her lips quirk into a shy smile, lips parting just the slightest as he meets her gaze. Lucy's breath catches in her throat, her heart skipping a beat as he grins down at her, inching just a little bit closer.

She hazily thinks he may be about to kiss her when something barrels into her legs.

Lucy yelps, nearly losing her balance if it weren't for Natsu's hand already on her back or the one that flies to her elbow as she starts to wobble, holding her steady and keeping her from doing something stupid, like face planting onto the wood floor. Yeah, that would be just great.

"Lucy!" a pair of excited voices call from somewhere by her knees, the noise slightly muffled by her leggings as skinny arms wrap themselves around her tightly. It takes her half a second longer than usual to understand what's happening, though she's not sure if it's because of how tired she is, or because of how loud her heart is beating at the moment.

Her face splits into a large grin. "Lisa! Yuri!" she coos, reaching down to ruffle two sets of white-blond hair as the twins giggle and cling tighter to her legs. Their grip is tight, but she doesn't mind. It's been too long since she's seen them. "Oh my goodness, you two have gotten so big," she giggles, fingers darting across Yuri's sides, causing him to shriek in laughter and try to wiggle away from her fingers. Try being the key word there. He doesn't get very far, what with him still clinging to her leg and all.

And it has been a while. Much longer than she would have liked, anyway.

"You missed turkey day!"

"Is he your boyfriend?"

"Can you—"

Someone behind them laughs, cutting off what was likely to be an onslaught of questions from the excited five-year-olds. "Okay, kids, let Aunt Lucy breathe," Mirajane giggles as she comes up behind them, brushing her long hair behind her ear before sending Natsu and Lucy a sweet smile.

Lucy rolls her eyes, but the children release her, attention shifting to Natsu instead. He seems a bit shocked to have the two of them attach themselves to him in the same way they did Lucy, but he takes it in stride, peering down at them and making goofy faces. She smiles, still feeling his palm pressed tight against her back. "Oh, please, Mira," she scoffs teasingly. "I can handle a couple of kids," she tells her in-law, pretending to wave off her concern.

And it's true enough. Lucy has watched the kids plenty of times for Mira and Laxus. Sure, there was one incident with the fork and the toaster, but Lucy solved that problem easily. All she had to do was toss her toaster out the window!

In hindsight she probably should have just taken the forks.

Mira grins back, blue eyes sparkling with humor. "I'm sure you can," she tells Lucy, patting her on the arm gently. "And who might this be?" she asks, directing her attention to the man standing next to Lucy, who quickly glances up from where he's been pulling faces at the children, expression sobering immediately.

"I'm Natsu," he tells her, an embarrassed smile creeping across his face. After all, here he is, this big, tuff punk with piercings and tattoos, and he's just been caught trying to make a bunch of kids giggle.

Lucy thinks it's adorable.

"Mirajane." She reaches out to shake his hand. "But just call me Mira. It's nice to meet you," she says pleasantly, always the friendly one. Sometimes Lucy just doesn't understand how someone as sweet as Mira could end up with Laxus who's, well, kind of a dick, but she figures it must work for them. If the six year marriage and two kids can attest to anything.

"Likewise," Natsu replies, nodding, in a flash he's turned back to the kids, releasing Lucy so he can crouch in front of them, allowing Yuri to poke at his earrings and Lisa to giggle excitedly as she pats at his brightly dyed hair. Natsu's face splits into a megawatt smile as the kids continue to prod at him in awe, the twins taking turns chatting his ears off as they lead him a few feet away from the women.

Yup definitely adorable.

"So how've you been," Mira asks quietly, her eyes on Natsu and the children as well. She spares a brief look at Lucy, but the blonde doesn't notice, too preoccupied with the scene in front of her, a small smile on her lips.

Lucy's shoulders tense just the slightest at the question, even though she knew it would come eventually. "Good," she tells Mira honestly. "I've been better lately," she says, softer than before. Lucy wets her lips, gaze slipping to the floor to stare at her shoes, lips twisting into a frown when she realizes she's tracked water inside.

And it's not a lie for once. She really has been doing better. A lot better, actually. She's not as angry all the time, which is definitely an improvement. The first few months were the worst, but at this point she thinks she can try to let it go—not forget, or forgive, or whatever the hell else her father wants her to do—just, try to move past it, if only for a little while.

Lucy has never been close with her father, even less so in recent years. There was a time when she thought their relationship was improving, but then he went and shoved a wrench right into whatever plans she had been making at the time. But that's fine. She's an adult. She'll deal with it like one.

That doesn't mean she won't be petty first and do something out of spite, like fake a relationship with someone she knows will piss him off. Mira doesn't need to know about that, though.

Mira nods, smiling when Natsu blows a raspberry at Yuri, causing him to burst into giggles. Lisa also begins to laugh, fingers working a small braid into the hair behind Natsu's ear. "Is your dad mad?" she asks Lucy, already knowing the answer.

Lucy wonders if Mira's merely making small talk while her children survey the new, interesting individual, or if she's actually getting at something.

"When isn't he" Lucy asks, sending Mira a sardonic smile, the words all too bitter on her tongue. She knows it's not fair for her to take out her frustration and resentment on Mira, but she also knows that Mira wouldn't just lie down and take it unless she felt like Lucy really needed to get it off her chest.

"Have you talked to him?"

This time Lucy can't help but laugh, though there's no humor to it. Natsu's head snaps up, and his green eyes lock with hers, both curious and concerned, but she merely smiles, waving him off. He holds her gaze for a moment more, searching for something, though she's not sure what. He seems to find it though, giving her a brief once over before nodding and turning back to the kids, though not entirely. Lucy doesn't miss the way he angles himself to be able to watch her expressions out of the corner of his eye.

Her gaze softens just the slightest and she sighs, shoulder bumping against Mira's briefly. Mira bumps her back. "I have nothing to say to him," Lucy says so softly even she can barely hear it, choking up as her throat tightens with emotion. She swallows down the lump in her throat, breathing deeply though her nose and willing herself not to start crying over something as stupid as this.

If this is how she's acting now, what is she going to be like when her father actually shows up?

Mira places a hand on Lucy's arm, giving her a comforting squeeze. "Just be honest with him, Lucy," she says gently, thumb rubbing a soothing circle against her shoulder. "That's the only thing you can do."

Lucy shakes her head, teeth pulling at her lower lip. "He doesn't want honest," she tells Mira, heaving a sigh. "He wants me to shut up and look pretty." She looks back at her friend, defeated brown eyes meeting concerned blue. "As if that's all I'm good for."

Mira's about to respond when the twins come bouncing over. Both women immediately plaster smiles across their faces, though it's not hard to fake one when you have two balls of energy smiling up at you like you're the most important thing in the world.

"Mommy! Lucy's boyfriend promised to take us sledding tomorrow!"

"Yeah! And we can build a snowman—"

"Ooh, and throw snow at each other—"

"—and—"

Mira cuts them off, blinking rapidly at the onslaught from the twins. "Okay you two," she says, scooping up both of them in her arms easily for such a tiny girl. "I think it's time for your nap," she tells them, giving Lisa an Eskimo kiss and heading towards the stairs.

The kids pout, frowns pulling at their lips "But mom—"

"You can go sledding tomorrow," she promises, glancing at Natsu and Lucy over her shoulder. "The snows not going anywhere."

The twins break into cheers, calling goodbyes over their mother's shoulders. "Bye, Lucy! Bye, Lucy's boyfriend!"

Natsu stands from his crouch and smiles at her sheepishly, running his fingers through his hair nervously as she crosses the distance between them. "Sledding, huh?" she asks, hoping her smile doesn't look as broken as it feels.

He shrugs, eyes scanning her face before locking with hers and holding her gaze. "They used their puppy dog eyes at me," he defends himself, pouting slightly. "How in the world was I supposed to say no to that?"

Lucy giggles. "Come on." She grabs him by the hand.

* * *

They end up running into Lisanna and her date next. Literally. Lucy is walking backwards and pulling Natsu along with both hands as she shows him around the house, babbling about anything and everything just to keep herself busy and upbeat. Her mood has soured since her talk with Mira, and she's sure Natsu has noticed the sudden switch in emotion, but he doesn't ask, and she won't tell, and she's really thankful that he's just listening to her. That's all she's ever wanted from people: them to actually listen to her when she talks. And sure, the Dreyar side of the family is great at really listening, but they all have other things to worry about at the moment.

Which is why she's currently babbling on about her great grandfather Yuri and how he supposedly once wrestled a bear and won. It's one of the stories she'd been told since she was a kid and it's always been a favorite of hers. Natsu just smiles and nods as she talks, taking in everything she says with wide eyes.

She's leading him towards the kitchen, talking animatedly and gesturing with one hand, when she turns around and runs straight into Lisanna, knocking both girls back a step. Lucy yelps, tripping over her feet and accidentally backing into Natsu, who, for the second time today, keeps her from falling on her ass.

What a gentleman.

She doesn't have time to thank him though, because in the next second she's wrapped up in a pair of familiar arms and smothered in silvery hair, Lisanna squealing in her ear as she squeezes the life out of Lucy. "Lucy!" Lisanna gushes, arms tightening around the blonde even more. Lucy laughs, squeezing back just as tightly. Lisanna has to be one of her closer friends, even if they don't see each other more than a few times a year. There's just something about the other girl that Lucy loves. Maybe her optimism? "Its so good to see you," Lisanna continues, leaning back just enough to really look at Lucy, surveying her with a critical eye. "It's been ages," she jokes, face splitting into a smile.

"You too, Lisanna," Lucy replies, unable to keep herself from giggling. Lisanna's happiness is just infectious like that. When she smiles, you can't help but smile back just as big. She just radiates positivity and Lucy thinks that everyone needs a Lisanna in their life at some point or another.

She thinks Natsu might be like that too, but at other times she can see something dark in his eyes. It's never there for more than a few seconds, but she knows better than to think it's not still there even when she can't see it. She doesn't ask and he doesn't tell and she thinks that's probably for the best. They've only known each other for a week, after all. She doesn't expect him to spill his secrets to her, and she doesn't plan on sharing hers either.

The shorter girl's gaze shifts to somewhere over Lucy's shoulder, her eyes lighting up when she notices Natsu standing behind her. "And who's this?" Lisanna asks, eyes flickering between Lucy and the cute, punk guy standing awfully close to her. She holds Lucy's gaze for a moment, raising a brow suggestively as her smile turns sly.

She shoves her shoulder, but Lisanna only giggles.

Lucy glances back at Natsu, who's turned a bit red in the face. He meets Lucy's eye and sends her a sheepish grin before looking back at Lisanna.

"I'm Natsu, the boyfriend," he tells Lisanna, mirth creeping into his tone as he sends Lucy a silly look. She just rolls her eyes, secretly wondering how much fun he's going to have referring to them as "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" in front of her family. "Nice to meet you," he greets the pair, gaze shifting to the dark-haired man standing at Lisanna's side, who's looking a bit miffed at the exchange.

Lisanna giggles. "The pleasure is all mine," she jokes, winking at Natsu. Lucy's eyes widen just the slightest in surprise. Lisanna always has been a flirt, but Lucy didn't think she would be so brazen about it, especially with who Lucy assumes is her boyfriend standing right _there_ (and it's not that Lucy is jealous or anything. She and Natsu aren't really dating but come on Lisanna, have some decency and least wait until after Lucy leaves the room). "Oh!" Lisanna's eyes widen, practically sparkling. "And this is my boyfriend, Bixlow," she tells them, patting Bixlow's chest absentmindedly, flashing a grin up at him.

He quirks a brow at Lisanna, but doesn't say anything, though his lips do twitch up at the corners.

"Nice to meet you, Bixlow," Lucy greets, nodding at the other man. "I'm Lucy." She offers her hand.

Bixlow's gaze shifts to her and his smile only widens as he catches her hand in his. Lucy has a bad feeling about that smile. "The pleasure is all mine," he tells her, echoing Lisanna's words before taking it a step forward and raising the back of her hand to his lips.

Lucy blinks in surprise. Lisanna rolls her eyes and shakes her head, a small smile on her lips. Behind her, Natsu stiffens, his arm curling around her waist as soon as Bixlow releases her hand and takes a step back. Then, Natsu greets the other man as well, smile a little bit tighter than it was earlier, lips pressed into a thin line as something hard flashes in his eyes. Lucy reaches for his hand on her hip, giving it a soft squeeze before releasing him. He shoots her a quick glance, but she pretends not to notice.

"So," Lisanna starts, not missing the little exchange between them. "How long have you two been together?" she asks suddenly, eyes narrowing just the slightest.

Lucy's eyes widen. Shit. She knew there was something they had forgotten to discuss. How the hell did they forget to decide on how long they haven't been dating? That's kind of an important part to this convoluted plan! At least they're being asked this now, instead of in front of her entire family over dinner.

"Seven months."

"Three months." They say at the exact same time, exchanging a mildly panicked look. Lucy turns back to Lisanna, plastering a smile on her face as she hurries to correct their fuck up. "We broke up for a short period of time in August," she explains smoothly, briefly wondering when she became so okay with lying to the people she cares about. "Which is why I was single at the twin's birthday party." Hopefully, that will be convincing enough. Lucy was a bit sulky during the party, but that was because of another argument with her father, not because of a breakup that didn't really happen.

Luckily, Lisanna doesn't seem to notice. Rather, she just nods, excepting the explanation without any questions, which Lucy thanks the heavens for. She doesn't think she could come up with a reason for a breakup off the top of her head, least she accidentally say that one of them had been cheating on the other.

Natsu gives her hip a squeeze and presses himself against her side. "I like to pretend it never happened," he jokes, winking at the other couple and sending them a winning gin.

Yup, Lucy definitely picked a good one. Gajeel would have been horrible at this. Then again, Gajeel is terrible at social interaction to begin with.

Bixlow nods, expression turning pensive. "The make up sex must have been great," he says suddenly, causing Lucy to choke on her spit.

Against her side, Natsu freezes, looking very much a deer caught in the headlights.

"Bixlow!" Lisanna hisses, pinching the back of his hand none too gently, causing him to hiss back in response.

"What!" he whines, cradling his hand close to his chest and pouting down at her. "Short break ups always end with great make up sex," he argues, something in his eyes telling Lucy that he's speaking from experience. Yeah, she really didn't need to know that, like, at all.

Natsu shifts to his right leg, fingers tapping against her side absentmindedly, tickling her through her sweater. Lucy stifles a laugh as she tries to move away from his sly fingers, but Natsu notices and starts to grin. She squints up at him, wondering if he was doing it on purpose. "I mean, I'm inclined to agree," he tells Bixlow, jabbing a finger into Lucy's side and making her jump. Oh yeah, definitely on purpose that time. "Though I don't have much data to base it on," he admits, sending Lucy a wicked grin.

If things were different, she might have kissed that smile right off of him.

Instead, she merely rolls her eyes, sharing an unimpressed look with Lisanna. "Boys, am I right?" she jokes, letting her own arm curl around Natsu's waist. She lets her fingers, wiggle against his side, making him squirm slightly. Good, she thinks, grinning, he's ticklish too.

Lisanna just snorts and curls links her arms through Bixlow's, ignoring the boys still grinning at one another. "Gotta love 'em," she replies sarcastically, though a smile creeps onto her face.

Lucy glances up at Natsu, who turns back to her when he senses her gaze. She smiles innocently. "Oh, I'm inclined to agree," she says, looking at Natsu but speaking to Lisanna, "though I don't have much data to base it on," she mocks, voice lowering just a tick to imitate him.

Lisanna bursts into giggles.

Natsu looks at her like she's just told him to eat a large, smelly boot. "Ouch," he gasps, placing a hand over his heart in mock hurt, his eyes still sparkling as he fights to keep a smile off his face. "That hurts me," he tells her, voice sounding very serious given the situation.

"Does it?" she asks him, shifting to face him just the slightest, head cocking to the side as she peers up at him.

He nods. "Yeah, right here," he tells her, pointing to his mouth.

She quirks a brow, eyes widening just a fraction in surprise. "Your lips?" she asks, mouth suddenly feeling very dry, her tongue all too heavy. She can feel her face beginning to heat up, a blush creeping its way up her neck.

Again, he nods. "Yeah," he leans a bit closer, enough so she can feel his breath on her face, "maybe you should come and kiss it better," he teases. Lucy gasps and then he swoops in, placing a loud, wet kiss against her cheek, causing her so squeal in surprise. He pulls back after several long seconds and laughs as she stares up at him in shock.

Lisanna and Bixlow both laugh at her expense, but Lucy isn't too mad about that. If anything, she's just absolutely blown away, not expecting for Natsu to be so affectionate all of a sudden.

She clears her throat, curling further into Natsu's side in hopes that she might be able to just disappear into his chest and never come back out. Lucy glances at Lisanna, clearing her throat. "So how long have you two been dating?" she asks, gesturing to their linked arms and trying to change the topic from… whatever just happened. "You two look pretty cozy together." About as cozy as she and Natsu do, to be honest, and they aren't even dating. Either Natsu and her are just really good at faking it, or Lisanna and Bixlow haven't been dating for as long as she assumed.

Lisanna shrugs. "About three weeks," she says simply.

"Well," Bixlow starts, looking very much the cat that got the cream, "three weeks _officially_ ," he tells them, winking.

"You were dating unofficially?" Natsu asks curiously, head cocking to the side in confusion. Meanwhile, Lucy blanches, the realization hitting her hard. Yeah, definitely too much information there.

Lisanna at least has the decency to blush. "Yeah, we were, you know—we were _friends_ , but umm…"

"We were also having sex," he finishes for her, sending them a wolfish smile.

Lisanna rolls her eyes, pinching him again. "Don't be crass," she tells him.

"Too late for that, Sugar."

Okay, that's enough of that. Zero to one hundred real quick. Lucy takes a step back, pulling Natsu with her. He doesn't resist, too stunned by the conversation to do much else but follow her lead. "I'm going to go introduce Natsu to your brother," she tells Lisanna, spinning around and yanking Natsu out of the kitchen.

"But Elfman's not here yet!" Lisanna calls after her. Lucy pretends not to hear her.

They don't even make it halfway across the house before running into anther relative. This time, it's her grandfather, which is always an experience. Though, not always in a good way.

"Zvyozdochka!" he greets her, Russian accent thick as he calls her by the pet name, letting it roll off his tongue. Lucy smiles, releasing Natsu in order to hug her grandfather. "It is good to see you," he tells her, grip firm despite his small stature.

"You too, Dedushka," she says, squeezing him in return. "How have you been," she asks softly, knowing he doesn't like to broadcast his health to the entire world. She knows from Laxus that he had been sick for a few months, however, he certainly doesn't look it!

Makarov just laughs, releasing her. There's something mischievous swimming in his gaze when he meets her eyes. "I am still kicking," he tells her, laughing loudly. "Death is going to have to try harder if he wants to catch me." He winks and she laughs, not doubting that for a moment. Pushing ninety years old, Makarov Dreyar is officially the oldest person she knows, nearly a decade older than her grandmother Ida on her father's side. "Have you grown taller?" he asks her, amusement creeping into his tone.

Lucy laughs again, straightening her back. "No, but I think you've gotten shorter," she jokes.

He shakes a finger in her direction, a joking warning before taking notice of Natsu. His eyes crinkle at the edges as he smiles at the new face. "And who might you be?" he asks, far more polite than his grandson was earlier.

Natsu smiles and introduces himself in much the same way as he has everyone else, holding out a hand for her grandfather to take. "Natsu," he says simply. "I'm the boyfriend."

Makarov disregards his hand much like Laxus had, though he does something else instead. "You picked a nice one, Zvyozdochka," he appraises, scanning Natsu with a critical eye. Then, he slaps Natsu's butt and nods to himself, obviously satisfied with Lucy's choice in a significant other.

Lucy sighs, shaking her head as Natsu goes stock still, clearly not expecting that. Yeah, maybe she should have warned him about that beforehand. "Dedushka, we talked about this," she chastises, crossing her arms and staring at him, disappointment clear on her face.

"What!" he waves her off, crossing his own arms and only pouting a little bit. "It is just a greeting!" he tells her, scoffing.

Lucy thinks he might have broken Natsu, judging by the way he's just staring there with glossy eyes and a far away look on his face. Awesome. That's exactly what she needed.

"You can't just slap a strangers butt, it's not polite," she tells her grandfather, hands moving to her hips as her brow furrows. She's not going to win this argument, she knows. This isn't the first time they've discussed this. It just goes in one ear and out the other.

He huffs. "Back in my day—"

She cuts him off. "Back in your day, I'm sure it was still considered impolite, and possibly illegal," she says, daring him to contradict her.

He doesn't, just smiles instead. "Aye, but that did not stop me then and it is not going to stop me now," he says, nodding and clearly self-satisfied. "Now you two go put your things upstairs! Dinner will be ready soon," he dismisses them, patting Lucy on the back and beginning to walk towards the kitchen where Lucy had just come from.

"It's only three," she tells him, glancing at the clock. Wow, have they already been here that long?

Makarov laughs. "Well you know how dinner with this family goes." Lucy nods in understanding. "Elfman should be here within the hour and Ivan and Sylvie will only be staying for dinner tonight. Now go!" he repeats, shooing them off towards the stairs.

Lucy grabs a still stunned Natsu by the hand and begins to lead him up the stairs.

"He just slapped my ass," Natsu murmurs, fingers threading through hers absentmindedly, his gaze still far away. He looks like he's just had an epiphany, but Lucy is afraid to ask what is, so she simply ignores it.

"Don't worry," she tells him, "it means he likes you."

They make it to the top of the stairs in one piece, only to run into Loke.

God fucking dammit, can't she catch a break?

"Lucy!" Loke greets, pulling her into a swift hug before releasing her and immediately pulling Natsu into a hug as well. "Strange boy I don't know!" he says, face twisting in confusion as he pulls away. Loke is very clearly exhausted if he's just hugging strangers like that. "Wait, is he your—"

She doesn't let him finish. "Yes, and no you don't get to badger us about it, we already got it from Laxus," she warns him, unlocking the door that she's every year in the past. Assigned rooms can be a blessing at times.

Loke frowns. "But it was my turn to—"

"You can grill him later," Lucy promises, jiggling the doorknob when it doesn't open. Seriously? She does not need this right now!

"But—"

"Tell Aries hello for me!" she says, finally managing to push the door open. "I don't want to hear it."

"I'm in the room next door so—"

"Got it!" She shouts, yanking Natsu into the bedroom.

 **She slams the door behind them.**

* * *

 **AN: I've decided to extend this fic to 8-9 parts! Part Two of Thursday will by up tomorrow, hopefully! I'm kind of exhausted at the moment, so we'll see how much I can get done! Luckily, by splitting the chapters into more parts, I have less to write everyday!**

 **Be sure to eave a review and tell me what you thought of this part ;)**


	3. Close Encounters

**AN: Enjoy!**

 **Deck the Halls, Bitches**

 **Part Three: Close Encounters**

* * *

 **Thursday, December 22nd**

It's been nearly an hour since Lucy barricaded the two of them in her room and neither of them have said a word. Natsu, bless him, seems to be having a difficult time processing everything that's just happened—and she doesn't blame him one bit. Her family is completely bonkers—great people, but bonkers. She has the benefit of knowing most of them since birth, so their antics don't really bother her at this point and their quirks are just things that make her love them more.

Laxus is a jerk and she loves him for it. Mira can become the human embodiment of a demon and that's what makes her Mira. Lisanna is nosy and digs to much into Lucy's love life (or lack thereof) but that's how she shows she cares. Elfman is loud, Makarov inappropriately touches strangers butts, Loke is too overprotective, and that's just how they are.

Unfortunately, Natsu isn't quite as used to the chaos as she is. And she feels bad, she really does, but now is not the time for him to shut down and have some sort of internal crisis. They have a family dinner in about twenty minutes, should Ivan and Sylvie be arriving on time for once, and she doesn't think she could go down there and handle all of her relatives without his help.

Besides, Loke is going to want to grill him about anything and everything, so he needs to be ready for it.

"Hey," she says, crossing the short distance between them and plopping down on the bed next to him, shoulder bumping against his gently. She doesn't look at him as she crosses her legs underneath her, instead staring at the blank wall across from them, much like he's been doing for the past hour. She's not sure what he's seeing that she can't, but it must be pretty interesting.

Natsu doesn't answer right away, just shifts slightly, leaning against her shoulder just a little bit more. "Hi," he says after several long seconds, voice softer than she's ever heard it before. Out of the corner of her eye she watches him swallow thickly, tongue darting out to wet his lips.

Lucy sighs, pulling at a loose thread on her white sweater with a frown. She really should look into buying a different Christmas sweater, but where is she going to find one with cute little reindeer on the hem? Well, probably at any Wal-Mart, to be honest, but none of them would be as nice as hers. Maybe she should just ask Ida to knit her another one. "So," she starts, unsure what to say besides "sorry my family is weird, please don't leave."

Again, he's quiet for a moment. Then—"your family is really, really weird," he tells her nonchalantly, turning to face her head on. At first, she's a bit afraid to look at him, unsure of what his expression might be, but after a moment she finally forces herself to look.

He's smiling.

Lucy smiles back at him, suddenly feeling lighter than she has for the past hour or so. She giggles, unable to help herself. "That they are," she agrees, smile only growing. Yeah, they are weird, but she wouldn't have them any other way. "So," she repeats, looking up at him through her lashes, "are you regretting agreeing to this yet?" she asks, humor lacing her words despite the knotted feeling in her stomach.

She wouldn't be mad if he said yes.

Natsu's eyes widen just a fraction, and she's surprised to notice just how incredibly green his eyes are and how incredibly easy it would be to get lost in them. For the life of her, Lucy can't understand how this guy is still single. Maybe when all of this is over…

"Nah," Natsu says, cutting off her train of thought with a shrug and well timed grin that's very close to making her melt like butter. Did she mention that she wants to climb this man already? Yes? Well, she really, _really_ wants to climb this man like he's a damn tree. "I'm just getting started," Natsu tells her, leaning in close enough so that she can practically count his eyelashes and feel his breath on her skin. His smile widens, pulling at the ring in his lip and Lucy briefly feels like tearing her hair out.

She realized very early on that Natsu has a very lax definition of personal space. He's always right there next to her, a hand on her back or her hip, shoulder touching hers, his fingers brushing against her—and Lucy can't say she really minds. It's kind of nice, the casual touching that is. It's something she's relatively familiar with given she's friends with Cana, but something about this feels different—strange, _in a good way_.

She clears her throat banishing the thoughts away to a darker part of her mind. "Sorry about Makarov," she apologizes sheepishly, once again pulling at a loose thread on her shirt. "I should have warned you about him," she says.

Natsu just shrugs, his tight black tee-shirt pulling at his shoulders nicely. He ditched the leather jacket at some point after entering the bedroom, but she can't seem to remember when. "No big deal," he tells her, chuckling lowly, a hand running through his brightly colored hair as his teeth play with the ring in his lip.

Lucy quirks a brow, already familiar with his nervous ticks. "Really?" she asks, sarcasm creeping into her words. "Because it looked like you were having an existential crisis for a while there," she teases, turning on the bed to face him directly, her knee pressing against his thigh.

Natsu scoffs and crosses his arms, sending her a dirty look. "I was not," he argues, staring down at her with what she thinks is supposed to be a frown. He can't hold it though, his lips keep twitching up at the corners and his eyes are still smiling. He's not fooling her in the slightest.

Lucy shakes her head, rolling her eyes. "You totally were," she scoffs right back, grinning up at him. "I practically had to drag you up the stairs," she jokes. It's true though, she did have to lead him up the stairs and he didn't even seem to realize that Loke was there during her brief discussion with her cousin.

"I was surprised, okay?" he huffs, sending her a rather adorable pout. Never before in her life did she expect some tall, punk rock guy to pout at her, but here she is, and here he is, and maybe the world is just a little crazy and maybe she loves it.

"Oh, I'm sure you were," she giggles back.

Natsu laughs as well, shaking his head slowly. "Does he do that to everyone or…" he trails off, uncrossing his arms and gesturing with his hands nonsensically, waving them between the two of them. His brows are furrowed, lips pressed into a thin line as he leaves the question hanging in the air, unsure how to articulate whether her grandfather grabs everyone's ass or if it's just him. Honestly, neither are great options.

Lucy pats him on the shoulder, smiling up at him fondly. "Just the people he likes," she tells him, hand dropping down to his knee. For a moment, she thinks about pulling away, but Natsu either doesn't notice or doesn't care, so she lets it stay. "Consider yourself special," she teases, squeezing his knee automatically.

He groans, face twisting in disgust and mortification as his nose wrinkles. "If that's what it means to be special, I think I'd rather he didn't like me," Natsu tells her, only half-serious. For all intents and purposes, it's probably better that her grandfather does like him, least he throw Natsu out of the house or let Laxus and Loke do their worst to him.

Yeah she'd mush rather have her grandfather like him, even if it does involve a little groping.

"You're just mad because that quirk doesn't run in the family," she replies suddenly, eyes widening in surprise as the words leave her mouth without her permission. Why the _fuck_ did she just say that? Now is really not the time for her filter to just stop working!

His gaze snaps back to her, their eyes locking. Natsu's eyes glint with something she doesn't recognize, his spine going rigid. Lucy silently curses herself, wishing she could just punch herself in the face or something. He clears his throat, a flush creeping up his neck. "Well, you're not wrong," he tells her, swallowing visibly. Lucy watches as his Adam's apple bobs enticingly. "I would much rather have you grab my ass than your ninety year old grandfather," he admits, shrugging and staring directly at her.

Lucy holds her breath, inhaling sharply through her nose at his admission. She blinks up at him slowly, simply trying to process his statement. She opens her mouth slowly, choosing her words very carefully this time. "Natsu, if you want me to spank you all you need to do is ask," she tells him, tone teasing, but there's an underlying challenge there as well.

She wonders if he'll take the bait.

Natsu goes stock still, his eyes going impossibly wide as her stares at her, shock written all across his face. His lips part, jaw dropping just the slightest as he blinks at her owlishly, clearly not expecting her to say something as bold as that. Lucy just blinks back, waiting for him to say something— _anything_ , least she start to think she crossed an invisible line.

Natsu wets his lips and Lucy unconsciously follows the movement with her eyes, gaze darting to his mouth before snapping back up.

Suddenly, he lunges for her, knocking her onto her back and pinning her to the bed. Lucy gasps, but it soon turns into a shriek of laughter as his fingers dart across her sides without warning. Sneaky hands grip her sides, the pads of his fingers poking and prodding at her ribs as she tries and fails to squirm out of his grasp. Above her, Natsu smirks, a snicker bubbling out of his throat as she flails helplessly beneath him, tears beginning to gather in the corners of her eyes as his tickling continues.

Lucy realizes briefly that she can't breathe and her lungs are starting to burn and she can feel happy tears starting to course down the sides of her face, likely leaving a smear of makeup in their wake. She also realizes that she really doesn't care.

Finally, his fingers cease their movements, his palms stilling against her heaving sides as he smiles down at her. Lucy pants, giggles still escaping her as she stares up at him. Natsu's thumb brushes along her side absentmindedly, back and forth in a soothing pattern. She focuses on it trying to steady her erratic heartbeat to no avail.

Lucy leans up slightly on her elbows, inhaling sharply through he nose as Natsu's head dips down towards hers, nose nearly bumping against her own they're so close.

Before Lucy can do something stupid, like kiss him, there's an obnoxious banging on the door that nearly makes her jump right out of her skin. Lucy's gaze snaps towards the noise, eyes blinking rapidly as she realizes what just happened and how easy it would have been for them to get caught. Not that that would matter, considering they're "dating" and all, but still. It's the principle of the thing. "Hey you two," a grumpy, muffled voice says through the door, tone snappish. She thinks it's Loke, and he's none too happy about their earlier conversation it would seem. "Put your clothes back on and get down here, Satan just arrived and dinner starts in twenty," he grumbles, pounding on the door for good measure.

Yup, it's definitely Loke. What a big baby.

Lucy rolls her eyes, holding her breath when Natsu's thumb slides across her rib cage. "We weren't doing anything, Loke!" she calls back, hoping she doesn't sound as breathless as she really is. Despite the fact that nothing scandalous has happened, she doesn't really need Loke to go downstairs and blab about her sounding all out of breath after being locked in a bedroom with her supposed boyfriend for an hour. That would be very damning and she'd never hear the end of it from Mira and Lisanna.

From the other side of the door Loke snorts in disbelief. "Yeah," he agrees, sarcasm practically dripping from his words. "And I'm wearing ladies underwear," he tells her. She can imagine him standing there in front of the door, pouting with his arms crossed as he plots twenty different ways to kill Natsu in his sleep.

She's quiet for a moment. "Are they lacy?"

Above her, Natsu cracks up.

* * *

Lucy wishes she had just stayed in her room. That would have been a hell of a lot better than whatever _this_ is. Dinner with her family is going about as well as she thought it would. Makarov has had one too many glasses of vodka and has begun to sing softly in Russian at the head of the table, she thinks it might be something about a bear, but her Russian is mediocre at best. Laxus keeps arguing with his father who, predictably, is acting like an asshole and keeps sneering at everyone at the table. Jesus, if Ivan fucking hates everyone why does he even come to these things? It would be so much better for everyone if he just stayed home. Sylvie is making polite conversation with Evergreen, Elfman's longtime girlfriend, though the former looks like she's been sucking on a lemon and the latter's eyes are screaming for help. Mira is making sure her children don't stab each other with forks, and Lisanna and Bixlow are giggling with their heads bent close together, oblivious to everyone around them. Elfman bless him, is trying to strike up a conversation with Loke's fiancée Aries, who shrinks back as the loud man continues to shout over everyone else in the room. Meanwhile, Loke keeps glaring at Natsu, who has a hand on Lucy's thigh under the table, his fingers drumming against her clothed leg slowly.

And Lucy? Well, she just kind of wants to melt into the floor and stay there until the night is over. See, the thing about Dreyar family dinners is that they last for fucking _ever_. Dinner started at four-thirty and it's currently almost eight. _Eight_. They've been wining and dining for nearly four hours now.

So far the highlights of the evening have been:

Learning about Loke and Aries engagement, which Lucy is actually pretty happy about. She's been waiting ages for Loke to get over himself and just ask the poor girl to marry him, since Aries is way too shy to do it herself. Of course, Lucy shouldn't have expected so much from the self-proclaimed womanizer. Lucy rolls her eyes. Loke dated a handful of girls in high school, but Aries has always been the one for him. At least he's finally settling down for good. She was afraid she'd have to strangle him.

Listening to Lisanna and Bixlow gush at each other and call each other weird pet names all night. She's been secretly keeping count of all of them in her head. So far, Lisanna is winning for the strangest with "big-daddy-yum-yum." She doesn't want to know.

Makarov trying to give her the sex talk for the third time this year.

Elfman proclaiming his love for Evergreen in front of all of them, much to the brunette's embarrassment.

And Ivan telling Natsu he looks like a freak, much to Lucy's mortification.

And it only gets better from here on out, Lucy thinks, downing her glass of whiskey in one go. Natsu glances at her out of the corner of his eye from where he's chatting with Mira and listening to Yuri and Vasilisa babble incoherently about something Lucy can't keep up with. He gives her leg a squeeze, silently asking if she's okay as he gives her a once over. Lucy just waves him off, sending him a tense smile before turning back to her empty glass. Dimly, she thinks she may have had enough to drink for the night. Her hand drops to her lap, finding Natsu's and squeezing.

She's tired, she's borderline exasperated by her extended family, and she's sick of trying to steer the conversation away from politics. Luckily, the night seems to be winding down, if Makarov is anything to judge by. They'll have to end dinner when he starts to shed his clothes, because none of them really want to see the eighty year old man parade around in his birthday suit. Besides, the twins will need to be getting to bed soon and Ivan and Sylvie have quite a long drive back home.

She estimates that dinner will be over within the hour. Hopefully.

Lucy sighs, absentmindedly playing with Natsu's fingers under the table as she listens in on Elfman telling Aries a "manly story." Something about how Elfman carried Evergreen up twenty flights of stairs because she sprained her ankle and the elevator would have been too slow. Her brow furrows, thumb brushing over Natsu's knuckles. Sometimes she just doesn't _get_ Elfman. He's one of the nicest guys she knows, but he does a lot of weird shit.

She forgoes pouring herself another drink, deciding she's had enough for one night. Besides, she really can't hold her liquor that well and doesn't need a repeat of New Years last year.

Stripping down to her underwear in front of her entire family sounds like a very bad decision.

Natsu flips over his palm suddenly, lacing his fingers through hers fluidly before leaning in close to her ear. He smells like whiskey, she notes briefly, and Makarov's raspberry vodka. She wrinkles her nose at the all too sweet smell, lips pursing slightly. It's not a bad mix, per say, but it's strong. His breath is warm against her ear, sending a shiver up her spine. He squeezes her palm. "They're not so bad," he murmurs, lips brushing against her skim softly as he speaks. He doesn't pull back after falling silent, prolonging the contact.

Lucy smiles ruefully, turning into his touch. Natsu's lips skim across her cheek, nose bumping hers gently. "You haven't seen the half of it yet," she warns softly, watching his pupils dilate, blowing open wide as the green in his eyes shrinks so much she can only see a small ring.

He chuckles, the sound echoing through her and teasing her skin he's so close. His gaze flickers with mischief, a wicked smile tugging at his lips. Lucy turns her face away from his, though she doesn't move to pull away entirely. Natsu releases his grip on her hand, palm going back to her leg as he leans in just a bit closer to her. "Should I be prepared for battle?" he asks teasingly, lips brushing against the shell of her ear.

Lucy peeks at him through her lashes, her own lips twisting up into a slightly bitter smile as she snags his own wineglass, still filled to the brim with some of Makarov's sweet smelling vodka. Lucy wrinkles her nose again, but just shrugs and takes a sip anyway. "There will be casualties," she tells him, admiring the red imprint she's left on his glass courtesy of her lipstick. Lucy smiles at her handiwork before setting the glass back in it's original position. If Natsu minds her stealing his drink, he certainly doesn't act like it.

Tapping her fingers against the table, Lucy wonders if they're laying it on too thick. She casts the thought away just as quickly. They're trying to make this convincing, after all, what does it matter if they're being a bit handsy and whispering to each other? Everyone else will probably just blame it on the alcohol, rather than Lucy trying to prove something.

Natsu shrugs, fingers drawing nonsensical shapes against the outside of her thigh. "No ones died yet," he notes, pulling away just enough to survey the rest of the tables occupants, who are largely ignoring the pair of them. Except, of course, for Lisanna, who's watching them with a slightly narrowed expression, her lips pressed into a pensive line that Lucy knows means questioning is soon to come.

"I wouldn't hold my breath," she breathes back, pressing a quick kiss against his cheek, letting her lips linger there for a moment longer than necessary. Natsu sends her a bemused look as she pulls back, but says nothing, simply turns away and reaches for his wineglass, eyeing the lipstick mark with a critical eye before glancing her way and catching her eye.

Lucy resumes her finger tapping, trying to keep her expression neutral.

Natsu's gaze dips to her lips, before returning to her eyes, locking with them. He brings the wineglass to his mouth with a smirk.

Lucy blinks rapidly, a blush heating her face as she turns away quickly, trying to hold back her smile.

Suddenly, Lisanna clears her through rather loudly, gaining the attention of the entire table. Lucy groans silently. Despite knowing that the intrusive dating questions were bound to come eventually, she's not nearly drunk enough for this. Besides, she would rather not talk about her sex life in front of the man that earlier called her date a "cotton candy freak" to his face. She's pretty sure she already knows Ivan's opinion on her new "boyfriend" and it's certainly not a good one.

"So, Natsu," Lisanna starts casually, circling her wineglass with a finger, her other hand laced with Bixlow's on top of the table. Natsu stills at the sound of his name, lowering his glass back to the table grip tightening on Lucy's leg as multiple pairs of eyes turn to him. "Wow did you and Lucy meet?"

Innocent enough, Lucy thinks. Lisanna could have just jumper in head first and started asking about when they're going to start planning their wedding (Lisanna's a bit of a romantic like that, and while Lucy would usually just laugh off a remark like that, she doesn't think she has the self-control to be nice about it tonight), but she's being oddly reserved about her questions tonight. Usually she doesn't pull her punches.

Maybe Bixlow has mellowed her out a bit. Lucy thinks about their… situation and wrinkles her nose. Yeah, Bixlow has definitely mellowed her out a bit. A friends with benefits situation isn't exactly the thing of fairy tales. Lisanna probably isn't as idealistic anymore.

Loke's gaze flickers from Lucy to Natsu, but he says nothing, just scowls and stabs at a carrot on his plate with a fork

Her eyes widen. _Yikes_.

Natsu's expression slips into an easy smile, his shoulders relaxing just as quickly as they had tensed, though his grip on Lucy's thigh doesn't slacken. "We had a couple of classes together in college, I sat behind her in our biology class," he tells her family, smile firmly in place.

Lucy's head snaps around to face him in confusion, but he doesn't look at her, just brushes his thumb along the side of her leg, silently promising to explain later. Something pulls at Lucy gut and she fights to slap a smile on her face, hoping no one noticed the split second of confusion in her eyes.

Natsu was in her biology class? She doesn't remember that. Then again, she doesn't remember a lot of things about her biology class. It was an early morning class and honestly she spent most of the time staring at the clock and waiting for it to be over.

She wishes she had have noticed him their sooner.

"So you guys just started talking one day? And then you just asked her out?" Loke asks, voice wavering between civil and a low hiss. Aries frowns at him, murmuring something that Lucy can't hear. Loke pouts at his fiancée, but settles down, obviously complying with her plea for him to _stop being an asshole_. Not that Aries would have called him an asshole of course. She's way too nice for something like that.

Lucy, however, is not.

Laxus zeroes in on Natsu, ceasing his argument with his father. "Yeah, how did you two start going out?" Laxus asks, a too large smile creeping across his face. It doesn't hide the quiet loathing in his eyes though. At least he's trying to be polite. Lucy will give him that much.

She rolls her eyes at her cousins' behavior, planting an elbow on the table and resting her chin against it, the other dropping back to her lap where she lets it rest on top of Natsu's, thumb rubbing against the back of his hand soothingly.

Natsu clears his throat, shifting a bit awkwardly as everyone waits for an answer. "Not exactly," he tells them swallowing down the lump in his throat. He avoids Lucy gaze as he continues. "We had the same, early morning biology class one semester, and there was one day that Lucy came in looking like a mess." She freezes, inhaling sharply as she realizes immediately what day he's talking about. She always made it a habit to look presentable during class, if only so that Jose didn't mark her down on her participation—and he would do that too. Natsu continues, smiling across the table as Lisanna and Loke. "She was soaked from the rain because she forgot her umbrella and she had these awful bags under her eyes." He pauses. "Her hair was a mess and she looked like she had just rolled out of bed, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone quite as beautiful as she was then," he tells them, softer than before, sincerity thick in his voice. The table falls silent. Lucy's throat tightens, her tongue suddenly feeling heavy as her mouth goes dry. She tightens her grip on his hand. Natsu snorts, chuckling slightly. "She started an argument with our professor that day and afterwards I asked her to go on a date with me," he tells them smiling so widely that it hurts Lucy's heart to look at. "I just couldn't help myself."

She hadn't known, about any of it.

Elfman is the first one to react, bursting into a loud, booming laugh. "That's our Lucy," he says, grinning at the blonde across the table. "Always picking fights!" She rolls her eyes and sends him a dirty look, but there's a smile on her face regardless.

Like her brother, Lisanna giggles, unable to help herself. "That's adorable," she coos at the pair, obviously taken with Natsu's response. Okay, so maybe Lisanna's still a bit of a hopeless romantic, but that's okay. Everyone could probably benefit from thinking about romance in such an upbeat way, so long as they don't have their expectations too high.

Loke blanches as Natsu's sappy response, but the sincerity in his voice does seem to placate her cousin, who nods in understanding, his eyes softening just the slightest. Laxus has a similar expression on his face from where Lucy can just barely see him at the end other end of the table.

Good. That's one less thing she has to worry about.

Makarov is too drunk to care, but he does smile and clap, murmuring something unintelligible in Russian that Lucy thinks might be inappropriate for a family conversation, if she didn't hear wrong. Makarov made sure to tell all of the grandchildren Russian explicates as soon as they turned fifteen, despite their parents protests.

Mira smiles at her, but there's something strange in her gaze that Lucy can't pinpoint so she decides to ignore it.

Ivan, however, snorts in contempt, eyes rolling as he takes a sip of vodka. "She should learn to shut her mouth and listen sometimes," he speaks up from the head of the table to her right, something malicious in his eyes.

Lucy just sighs, knowing the comment would come up at some point. Uncle Ivan is still stuck in the past century, where women would shut up and look pretty and try not to make their husband's look bad. He's like her father in that way, which is ironic in Lucy's eyes. The two men practically loath one another, but they're practically two sides of the same coin.

The occupants of the table just sigh, already used to this type of comment from Ivan, but Natsu bristles, his jaw clenching as his eyes narrow, lips twisting into a frown. Lucy squeezes his hand, shaking her head when Natsu looks at her.

It's not worth it.

Sylvie shifts awkwardly at Ivan's side, her lips pulling down in the frown Lucy is all too used to seeing on her aunt's face. "Ivan," she says quietly, trying to stop the conversation before it begins. Ivan waves her off, and Sylvie just turns away.

"What?" he argues, sending his wife a blank look and shrugging as he takes another drink from his wineglass. "It's true!" he says, rolling his eyes at the pleading looks thrown his way. "Lucy needs to learn her place and stop talking back," he tells the table, waving off the soft complaints that rise up from around the table.

Natsu's expression sours and he glares at her uncle, looking ready to start an argument right there. Lucy just rolls her eyes, not needing anyone else to fight her battles for her. She's a big girl. She's dealt with this a dozen times before. She can deal with it now.

"And why, per say, should I do that?" Lucy asks calmly, eyeing her uncle as she once again steals Natsu's drink, hiding her smirk against the glass as her uncle's expression twists in disgust. Call Lucy petty, but there's nothing she enjoys more than making her uncle turn such a lovely shade of scarlet. Except, perhaps, making her father turn the same color.

Ivan glares down at her, lips pressed into a thin line as Lucy peers back in amusement, lackadaisically swirling the rosy colored vodka in the glass, knowing her flippant nature will only serve to piss him off even more. And that's fine. If he wants to talk down to her, that's his problem. Lucy isn't just going to take that lying down though.

Natsu shifts in his seat, teeth grinding together slightly, but he keeps his mouth shut, letting Lucy fight her own battle.

"It is not becoming of a young woman to raise her voice to a man," Ivan tells her in a clipped tone, lips curving back over his teeth as he stares at her, ignoring his wife's second request for him to just _leave it alone_.

Lucy merely smiles back, her gaze calculating and sharp as a knife. This seems to enrage him even more. Lucy wonders if it's the alcohol making her so brazen and sharp tongued, or if it's the man sitting next to her, ready to leap to her defense despite only knowing her for a little over a week. Lucy has a feeling it might be the later. There's just something about Natsu's presence that makes her feel brave. "And it's not becoming of you to be so archaic uncle," she replies, echoing his words with a smile. The vodka is sweet on her tongue and she can see Laxus stifling a smile on her uncle's left. "You're beginning to sound like my father," Lucy tacks on as an afterthought, watching Lisanna's eyes spark with amusement as Evergreen shoots Ivan a glare. from around Elfman's arm.

Mira glances between the two of them, but doesn't say a word as she stands, taking her children into her arms and leaving the table. The twins don't protest, too tired from the day's events to whine about leaving the table early.

Ivan snorts, bristling at the comment about Lucy's father. "You're never going to find yourself a husband with a tongue like that, Girl," he huffs, sneering at her, utter contempt lacing his words. He takes a drink and she hopes it tastes bitter on his tongue.

Lucy only laughs, shoulders shaking slightly as she takes note of the moniker meant to degrade her. He'll have to try harder than that. "I'm twenty-two," she reminds him, poison dripping from every word. "I don't need a husband," she snaps, briefly losing her composure. It's just damn hard not to get angry with him. Sometimes she just wants to scream whenever he opens his mouth. Her jaw clenches, lips pressing together tightly.

Silently, she hopes he chokes on his drink.

Ivan's gaze is cool as he stares back at her, but she can see the anger brimming just beneath the surface. She has him just where she wants him. Ivan is always at his most composed just before exploding, and she refuses to crack before he does. She absolutely _refuses_. "Maybe you would learn some manners if you did," he hisses at her.

Lucy's eyes twinkle in the lamp light and when Natsu's grip tightens on her leg she finds the courage to shut her uncle's mouth once and for all. "With all due respect," she spits back at him, eyes narrowing dangerously. "Out of the two of us, only one of us needs to learn some manners," Lucy tells him, smiling sardonically. "And I'm afraid it's not me."

His face twists in rage and Lucy braces for an onslaught of insults, but Natsu clears his throat before Ivan can say anything, a pleasant smile on his face despite the storm brewing in his eyes. He's breathing heavily, his jaw still clenched tightly, as well as his free hand resting on the table.

Ivan's gaze shifts to Natsu, and for once he keeps his mouth shut.

"In my opinion," Natsu starts, a trace of steel in his words as he sends Ivan a smile that's all poison, "Lucy, is fine just the way she is." He snags his drink back from Lucy, gently prying the glass from her grip—so tight her knuckles have begun to turn white. Natsu takes a drink before he continues. "I happen to like her tongue," he tells Ivan, the innuendo not lost on anyone at the table, but Natsu's gaze is only for Ivan at the moment. "It keeps me on my toes," he says, grinning much like the cat that got the cream. "But I can understand you reservations when it comes to a woman that talks back," he continues, shrugging slightly and making a show of ripping his gaze away from her uncle. "It must be easier to keep your fragile ego intact, going through life without anyone ever telling you to shut up and pull your head out of your ass."

Lucy's eyes widen, her jaw dropping slightly. It's quiet for a long moment, but then Loke asks Laxus how it is living with two toddlers and the table sparks with conversation again.

It's going to be a long night, Lucy decides, sighing and pouring herself another glass of whiskey. It's not as sweet as the vodka, but that's okay.

* * *

Natsu and Lucy crawl into their temporary bedroom at close to midnight, both a little drunk and both a little mad about what happened at dinner, despite the conversation ending nearly three hours earlier. Lucy's head lolls against Natsu's chest and he pulls her closer against his side with the arm wrapped around her shoulders, the two of them leaning heavily against each other as the stumble through the door-frame. Natsu kicks it shut behind them, the door slamming shut with an audible bang.

So maybe Natsu's more than just a little angry about dinner. Honestly, Lucy would be too, if she weren't so used to it. Then again, she thinks it's a little bit sad that conversations like that are something she's used to.

Her lips twist into a frown and she sighs, slipping out from underneath Natsu's arm just enough to place a hand on his arm to steady herself. He catches her by the elbow as she careens forward, cursing softly. Lucy just shakes her head, a lump rising in her throat as she runs a hand across the side of her face. She just wants to sleep and pretend tonight never happened.

Natsu keeps a firm hand on her arm, holding her steady as she shimmies out of her leggings, not bothering to be embarrassed about undressing in front of a semi-stranger who's also pretending to be her boyfriend. If Natsu cares about her sudden state of undress, he certainly doesn't show it, his concerned gaze focused on the side of her face.

She knows he wants to ask what the hell all of that was, but he doesn't and she's thankful for that. All she wants right now is to sleep off the headache pulsing against her skull. Talking can wait until she's sober an less prone to crying.

According to Gajeel, she gets weepy when she's tipsy, and she really doesn't want to cry all over Natsu, even if he looks like he wouldn't mind at all.

Lucy flings her leggings off to some corner of the room to be forgotten for the night, but keeps her sweater on because it smells like raspberries and pine, and while she isn't quite sure where the second scent came from, she thinks it might be Natsu, considering he's been pressed up against her side for the past twelve or so hours. Regardless, she likes it, so the sweater stays.

She lets go of Natsu's shoulder, blandly grasping at his hand instead and latching onto his fingers when she finds them, threading their fingers together awkwardly. Natsu chuckles, following behind Lucy as she leads him to the double bed shoved up against the wall and correcting her grip on his hand. Lucy pauses in front of the bed, lips twisting into a frown as she wonders how this is going to work.

The bed is big enough for the both of them to squeeze into, so that's not a problem at all. Lucy has shared smaller beds with her friends before. Hell her and Cana once shared a sleeping bag, which was a horrible decision in hindsight, but it worked regardless. No, she just doesn't know what side of the bed Natsu usually sleeps on, so it's up to him. Lucy isn't picky. So long as she can wiggle down under the blankets she'll be happy as a clam.

Natsu misunderstands her frown and hesitance, giving her hand a quick squeeze before dropping it entirely and taking a step back, his warmth leaving her side for practically the first time all damn day. She misses it almost immediately. "I can take the floor, if you want," he tells her, voice husky. A thrill crawls up her spine and she shakes her head, heart beginning to beat faster as she grabs at his hand again. She pulls him back to her side, blinking up at him in the low light and watching as he swallows thickly.

"Don't be a baby," she tells him, words slurring together slightly towards the end. "We're both adults." And they're supposed to be dating, so it may seem weird if they aren't sharing a bed, though that thought doesn't come until several seconds after. Besides, it's unlikely that anyone would be busting into their room in the first place.

Better safe than sorry, she supposes.

Natsu's eyes trace her features, searching for something in the silence that surrounds them. If he finds it, it doesn't show on his face. After a moment, he nods, tugging at her fingers gently. "All right," he murmurs, so soft she barely catches it. "I was just checking," he tells her, a small smile pulling at his lips. Lucy smiles back, eyes softening at his admission.

It's an odd change of pace, given how chaotic dinner was, but she can't say she really minds. It's kind of nice. Time seems to have slowed down. It's quiet and she can finally think without something crashing into her thoughts that doesn't belong.

Unconsciously, Lucy raises a hand to Natsu's face, fingers tracing his jaw line slowly, fingers barely a ghost against his skin. He inhales sharply, eyes widening just a fraction, but he doesn't pull away as Lucy's fingers trail across his cheek and chin and then his lower lip. His swallows thickly, watching her but not saying anything. He shivers, but she doubts that it's because of the cold. Then, surprising herself, Lucy presses up on her toes and brushes her lips against the corner of his mouth, not quite kissing him, just letting her skin rest against his. The cool metal of his piercing brushes against her cheek, sending a shiver running down her spine.

God, she just wants to take that piercing and—

For a moment, he stops breathing, then, his hand drops down to her waist, fingers stretched out against the fabric of her sweater. Other than this, he doesn't move an inch.

She pulls away slowly, mirth sparkling in her eyes. Her lips quirk up at the edges as she watches his eyes in the glow of the moonlight, his gaze curious and all too heartbreakingly honest for her to look at for too long, least she begin to feel like he's pulling back the outer layer of her mind and looking straight through her—really seeing her.

"So long as you don't kick me," Lucy tells him gently, "I think we're good." She smiles a small smile, but it's enough to get him to smile back, something like wonder in his eyes, and maybe a little bit of something that she can't read. As she stares up at him his expression softens into something that she can't quite place.

He wets his lips, and she takes a step back, leaving his side in favor of simply watching his eyes dart across her face. "I'll have you know," he murmurs, eyes tracing the curve of her jaw, "that I'm a cuddler." He says it like slowly— _quietly_ , like it might scare her off if he says it too loud. As if she's that easily frightened by something she doesn't quite understand.

His nervous eyes meet hers and she can't help but laugh, it comes out breathy in the stillness of the room and Lucy watches as the light glints off his lip ring as he pulls at it with his teeth. His gaze drops to the ground "Me too," she tells him, voice just as slow and quiet as his was. She wonders if she might scare him away, even before her family does.

Lips curve up into a bigger smile that finally reaches his eyes. He chuckles as well, deep and throaty and her heart seizes in her chest, practically leaping into her throat. "Well," he whispers, "at least we're on the same page." His eyes are filled with amusement when they meet hers again.

Lucy wets her lips.

"What side do you want?" she asks him, the words coming easier now, she's not so nervous about speaking with him in the darkness. There's something both private and thrilling about whispering with him in the dark, and she thinks she likes it. Maybe it's just a product of so much whiskey, but she feels like kissing him senseless right here and now. Just forgetting about Loke in the next room over and all the cutting words that Ivan said to her and grabbing him by the shirt and—

She blinks up at him still a little drunk and still a little mad.

"Left," he breathes back, gesturing to the side of the bed furthest from the wall. His had falls slack against his side a moment later, and Lucy absentmindedly realizes that the warmth against her rib cage is his palm, still pressed against her from when she touched his face. She thinks she might like it there.

She nods, taking another step back until her calf is pressed against the side of the bed, then, giving him one last look she turns around and crawls under the covers, slipping close to the wall and trying to calm her pounding heart.

There's a shuffling behind her, a rustling of clothing as he undresses, but Lucy doesn't turn to watch, just closes her eyes and tries to steady her breathing. There's a moment of hesitation, but then the bed dips down on the left side as he crawls in after her, not touching her, but close enough for her to feel the heat radiating off of him in waves.

It's quiet, but Lucy's thoughts are racing. Something he said at dinner springing to the forefront of her mind. "Hey, Natsu?" she asks, voice muffled by the covers as she stares at the paint on the walls, zeroing in on a slight chip in the paint from the time Loke accidentally threw a dart at the wall. She nearly smiles. He had been aiming for Laxus and, very luckily, had missed.

There's a rustle of the covers as he shifts, turning onto his side to face her. "Yeah?" he murmurs back, close enough for her to feel his breath against the back of her neck. Her lips twist into a slight frown.

"I didn't know you were in my biology class," she tells him, half-apologizing for never noticing him there. She wishes she did. Maybe things could have been different if she had been paying more attention to the people around her than the clock. Time never has been a friend to her. She doesn't know why she finds herself chasing after it so often.

He chuckles back, causing goose bumps to erupt across her skin. "Well," he teases, "you always did seem a little preoccupied with antagonizing Jose." She thinks she hears a smile in his voice, maybe something mischievous, but she still doesn't look.

Lucy scoffs, but it's half-hearted. There's a smile on her lips at this point, and she can't seem to get rid of it. "I wasn't antagonizing him," she says, a breathy laugh escaping her.

"Well, whatever you were doing, it kept him off my back, so thanks," he breathes into the space between them.

She shifts, pulling her legs close to her chest, the fabric of her sweater rising over her hips. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asks him, not sure if she's just trying to keep him talking or if she really wants to know the answer.

He's quiet for a moment, maybe pondering his answer or maybe just buying himself some time to come up with an excuse. "You didn't ask," he says simply.

She didn't know, she thinks back bitterly. How could she ask if she didn't know? Her throat tightens, welling with emotion and she realizes weepy Lucy has decided to make an appearance. "That's a terrible excuse," she murmurs against the blanket.

He hums in agreement and she thinks he shifts closer, but she's too tired to tell. "Yeah, probably," he agrees, sighing through his nose. "But would it have made a difference?" he asks.

Maybe, she thinks. Maybe it could have, but it's too late for maybes, because here they are and the maybes don't really matter when faced with the now. "Did you mean it?" she asks instead.

"Mean what?"

"You told Loke you asked me out after my argument with Jose," she clarifies. "Were you actually going to do that, or did you make it up?"

He doesn't respond and she thinks that's answer enough.

* * *

 **AN: What do you guys think Natsu's silence means at the end? Good? Bad? I know, but maybe you don't! This ending scene ended up a lot different than it was in my outline, so I hope you all liked it!**

 **PS. No chapter tomorrow! I'll be busy all day! Sorry everyone!**

 **PSS. Big thanks to everyone who reviews! You guys are the ones pushing me to get out these monsters every day ;) Reviews will now be getting previews of the next chapter before they're released!**


	4. Morning Mayhem

**AN: There was a lot more Bixlow/Lisanna in this chapter than expected, but I rather like it!**

 **Deck the Halls, Bitches**

 **Part Four: Morning Mayhem**

* * *

 **Friday, December 23rd**

Lucy wakes up with a splitting headache and the strange urge to throw up, which tells her just how _great_ dinner last night must have been. There's nothing like relatives to make a person want to drink themself to death! At least she made it all the way to a bedroom this time. Last Thanksgiving she made it halfway up the stairs and woke up with a crick in her neck so bad that she needed to see a doctor. Well, she probably _should_ have seen a doctor. Instead she just let Elfman hug her and squeeze her so tightly that basically every joint in her body popped.

She's pretty sure she died for a second that day, but her neck was fine afterwards, so she really can't complain.

Unfortunately, Lucy didn't drink quite enough to forget anything that happened last night. Which is both good and bad, if she thinks about it. Pro, she remembers almost kissing Natsu. That's certainly something that would be good to remember. Con, she remembers all of Uncle Ivan's sexist dribble. She wouldn't mind if that was permanently erased from her memory. Pro, she schooled him. And so did Natsu. Con, she'll probably have to deal with a similar conversation with her father later. Pro, apparently she managed to drag Natsu into bed with her and Cana would be so damn proud. Con, she's not sure how the two of them are going to interact upon waking up, now that they're both sober and all.

Hopefully they can just skip the awkward phase. They still have three more days to deal with her relatives before they can leave and things can go back to normal. Awkwardness be damned, she's not going to let a sort of kiss and a late night conversation fuck this whole plan up. They can handle three days. They're adults. Hell, most of the weekend will be spent with the two of them chatting with Lucy's relatives. There won't be time for awkwardness.

They can do this.

There's a heavy exhale from behind her, a warm puff of air blows against the back of her neck and then an arm tightens around her waist and pulls her flush against a very warm, very _bare_ chest. Now, if this was a movie, Lucy probably would have screamed and there would by a lengthy discussion about how cuddling isn't allowed. Be that as it may, this is real life and Natsu did tell her he was a cuddler, so she isn't all too surprised to be wrapped up in his arms.

Besides, she's warm and this room is cold because Makarov's heating sucks and he refuses to get it fixed because reasons.

Lucy just sighs and shifts backwards, pressing tighter against his front. Natsu murmurs something against her hair, but it's mostly nonsense so Lucy ignores it. She smiles as he burrows closer to her, but it's strained— _bittersweet_ , because she knows this isn't going to last and she was never supposed to catch feelings in the first place. This is just an act—an elaborate ruse meant to spite her father and get him off her back. She wasn't supposed to want to shove him up against the wall and kiss him senseless, but here she is, and here he is, and maybe there's a "them" somewhere in there, but she won't get her hopes up.

Because "them" is right up there with maybe, and maybes don't really matter when you're faced with the now.

And he never did answer her last night. She _knows_ what she wanted him to say. She _knows_ that maybe it's what he would have said, but also maybe not. And there's that word again.

Maybe none of it really matters anymore.

Natsu sighs, shifting against her back and tangling their legs together under the sheets. Lucy's thoughts float away with the sound of the wind, a grin slipping onto her lips as brushes her cold toes against his calves, reveling in the sudden warmth. She sighs, tilting her head back to rest her head against his collarbone. Natsu grumbles as her toes brush his skin, but he doesn't move to pull his legs away, merely hikes one knee up between her thighs and slips an arm under her neck, his fingers splayed out against the sheets.

Lucy has the decency to blush, her eyes widening slightly at his sudden movement, his bare skin warm against the inside of her leg. She doesn't pull away, though, and she won't hold it against him either. She was just as bold last night and his excuse is better than hers. Lucy shakes her head, pressing her cheek against the arm he's slipped underneath her, cold fingers coming up to trace the tattoo on his wrist: an Ouroboros in the form of a dragon eating it's own tail. She runs a light finger across his tattoo, circling it once, twice, before pressing her fingers against his wrist and feeling his pulse jump beneath her touch.

They're a mess of limbs under the covers, but she doesn't have it in her to care. She's comfortable and it's quiet and the whole room smells like pine and raspberry and she thinks that might be her new favorite scent. At first, she thought last night was just a product of the whiskey gone to her head, but she's sober now, and she can't say that regrets anything she did last night without making an even bigger liar out of herself.

She squirms against him again, cuddling closer to his chest in search of warmth, and lets her fingers work their way in between his, entwining their hands loosely. His arm tightens around his waist, fingers curling against her bare stomach where her sweater must have ridden up during the night. A smile pulls at her lips as she covers his much larger hand with her own, thumb brushing against his knuckles soothingly.

Lucy snorts, trying not to laugh as Natsu's breath tickles the back of her neck, and wonders what this must look like to anyone who could potentially walk in. They must look like quite the spectacle, all curled up together as if they're trying to swallow each other whole. Lucy blinks staring at the same spot on the wall she remembers looking at the night before, lips pressing into a thin line.

Too bad all of this is _fake_.

She sighs, shaking her head softly as her stomach begins to growl. All the really wants to do is go back to sleep—curl up against Natsu and try to pretend there's something real about all of this, but she thinks that's probably impossible at the moment. Besides, she's hungry and everyone else will be too, whenever they decide to wake up. Lucy squirms in his arms, causing Natsu to groan loudly against her ear, his knee pressing higher between her thighs. Lucy inhales sharply, a flush working its way up her neck in a matter of seconds. Her mouth goes dry and there's a spike of heat in her stomach, but Lucy shoves it down, swallowing thickly.

She manages to disentangle their legs quickly enough, her heart beating out of control all the while, but his grip on her waist doesn't relent. If anything, it only grows tighter as his fingers press against the warm expanse of her stomach. Lucy releases a shaky breath, eyes squeezing shut for a moment before she steels herself and rolls over in his arms, her chest pressing against his.

Natsu sighs and rolls with her, shifting onto his back. Lucy inhales sharply, her legs coming to rest on either side of his hips and her forearms braced against his chest. She glances down at his sleeping face, watching his nose wrinkle in amusement before her gaze moves to trace his jaw line. His hair is an absolute mess, though it's a good look on him, she notes. There's a faint smudge of red against the corner of his mouth from where she kissed him last night and she's a bit impressed that it hasn't been wiped away. Smug satisfaction creeps into her chest, a smirk pulling at her lips. Then, she remembers that she's practically sitting on top of him.

This time it's Lucy that groans.

She hastily turns away from him, squinting to read the clock on the side table and, not for the first time, curses Makarov for blatantly refusing to go digital. The numbers are nearly too small to read, but she manages, groaning once again when she realizes it's only five in the morning and there's not a snowballs chance in Hell that anyone else is awake.

Whatever, she can go make breakfast for everyone else and then go read a book or something. She could use a little time to herself—away from the craziness sure to come. Three days left means three days for something to go horribly wrong. Call her a pessimist, but holidays are the worst time of the year for her. Something always inevitably goes wrong. Either something gets lit on fire or someone gets drunk and whips out their dick in front of everyone— _thank you_ _Loke_.

Thank god her father isn't here yet. She has a feeling that when he does get here, she's going to become an absolute wreck and there will probably be tears. Mostly hers but if she can make him cry a little too, it would make her feel a hell of a lot better.

Does it make her a horrible person if she finds satisfaction in making her father cry? Because after everything he put her through after her mother died, Lucy thinks he deserves it, and she hates herself for thinking that. She hates the person she becomes when he's around, but she just can't help it.

Lucy shakes the thoughts away before glancing back down at the man beneath her, his breath warm against her neck. She merely shakes her head, shifting a hand to his shoulder and shoving him slightly, attempting to wake him up.

"Natsu," she slurs, shaking his shoulder gently, huffing when he doesn't stir. "Let me go," she murmurs, shaking him a bit harder, with little success. "I want to get up," she whines, sighing and resting her chin against her arms, pouting down at him. "Natsu, come on."

He cracks open an eye, looking up at her blearily, and she knows that he's barely awake. "No," he grumbles, voice husky—raw from lack of use and Lucy shivers. His grip on her tightens and she narrows her eyes, swatting at his shoulder as best she can, given her low range of movement.

"Come on," she tries again, a pleading edge to her voice. She really has to pee all of a sudden, which is probably because of all of the whiskey and vodka she drank last night—she lost count after the fifth glass—and if she doesn't use the bathroom soon she'll probably just explode. "I'm gonna make breakfast," she tells him, dipping her chin and letting her lips brush against his ear just the slightest, his earrings freezing against her lips. He groans again, and shifts. Lucy gasps as his teeth graze her bare shoulder, breath hot against her skin, before he places an open-mouthed kiss there a moment later. In the next second, his arms fall away from her, allowing her to sit up completely. "Thank you," she tells him, swallowing thickly.

She climbs off of him, heart in her throat, and immediately heads for the door, yanking it open without a second though, heart still racing. She pauses briefly at the threshold and considers turning around, glancing back to see if he's watching her leave, but she can't will herself to do so. She also can't will herself to take that last step out of the room. What would she even do if she did turn back around? Climb back into bed with him? Kiss him?

Lucy shakes her head and leaving the room without looking back.

* * *

Not for the first time, Lucy thanks whoever invented the waffle iron. Now her early morning cravings can be fixed with just a little bit of time and a lot less mess. God, she needs a waffle iron. Can that be her Christmas present from herself? She knows for a fact that no one else would think to get her a waffle iron—which is mostly her fault. She's never mentioned wanting a waffle iron in the past.

Which is a shame, she thinks as she opens the waffle iron and sees the beautiful chocolate chip waffles within, because this is a hell of a lot better than whatever shitty, fiber filled cereal she had been stealing from Gajeel for the past year and a half.

She can't go back to that cereal after this. She just _can't_.

Lucy sighs, dumping her waffles onto a plate before reaching for the Reddi Wip. There's nothing like whipped cream to make her waffles even better. Besides, she gets the feeling she's going to need something sweet to start out her day. Lord knows it only gets worse from here. Thankfully, her father won't be here until tomorrow, so she still has one day left before the world turns to shit.

Her lips purse as she grabs the can next to her, swirling the whipped cream onto her waffles with more force than necessary before slamming the can back onto the counter. Logically, she knows she shouldn't be this angry, but she's finding it hard to pretend to be okay with seeing the man that emotionally and verbally abused her for most of her childhood and teenage years.

She left that house the day she graduated and hasn't gone back since. The only reason she's even still in contact with that man is because a small part of her feels obligated to be. Besides, even if she did try to ignore him, he wouldn't let her walk away. That's what this whole arranged marriage bullshit is about. It's not about her happiness or even money, it's all about keeping her under her father's thumb and she's _done_.

Lucy pauses in her hunt for a fork as she feels more so than sees someone else enter the kitchen. They pause at the archway into the room and simply watch her for a moment. Lucy's shoulders relax, body losing it's tension as the person waits for her to finish what she's doing. She swallows, wetting her lips, and finally yanks a fork out of the drawer, practically stabbing it into her breakfast. She races her hands against the counter, waiting for the other person to speak up, figuring it's Mira or maybe Laxus. They're the only one's who would be awake this early in the morning on a vacation day.

"So," the person behind her starts, amusement clear in their voice, "do you usually take your pants off in front of other people, or am I just special?" they ask teasingly. It takes her about a half-second longer than usual to realize who it is behind her.

Lucy blinks, not expecting that answer in the slightest. She glances over her shoulder briefly, catching sight of a smirking Natsu leaning up against the door-frame, looking delightfully rumpled and sans a shirt, green eyes sparkling with mirth. She can't say she really minds any of it. Lucy turns back to the waffle maker, biting her lower lips absentmindedly as she realizes she's still not wearing any pants. "Only the ones I'm supposed to be dating," she tells him, shrugging slightly. Her pulse is loud in her ears, practically a roar, and she swallows thickly as she stares down at her plate. "You want one?" she asks, gesturing to the waffles without looking at him.

He hums in agreement, but otherwise doesn't move, just watches her from across the room. "Well, then I guess that makes me special," he jokes, eyes on Lucy's back as she pours batter into the waffle iron.

It certainly makes him something, she just doesn't know what. "Maybe," she tells him, a teasing edge to her words, "maybe not." She shoots him another glance, watches his brows raise to his hairline, eyes half-hidden behind a mess of pink hair.

His smirk widens. "Oh?" he asks, pushing off the wall and taking a step towards her. She turns away, but can hear him cross the room until he's directly behind her, not quite touching her, but just close enough so that she can tell he's there, his breath warm against her neck.

Lucy bites her lip, pausing briefly in making another batch of waffles, but continues her task a moment later. "You never answered me last night," she says softly, closing the waffle iron before standing on her toes to fish another plate out of the cabinets. Natsu beats her too it, leaning into her back just the slightest to reach around her and pull one down. The stoneware brushes her fingers as he passes it to her and when she takes it he doesn't back away. He makes a low sound against her ear, confusion lacing his tone. She swallows. "About whether or not you were planning to ask me out or if you were just saying it," she clarifies, setting the plate down slowly, not taking her eyes off the waffle iron.

He stills behind her, and suddenly there are two strong arms are on either side of her smaller body, caging her against the counter top, Natsu's hands braced against the counter on either side of hers, hands propping himself up so he can look down at what she's doing over her shoulder. Lucy inhales sharply through her nose, holding her breath as she waits for him to say something—anything.

There's a beat of silence before Natsu responds, as if he's choosing his words carefully. She hears him swallow thickly by her ear, his chest pressing against her back just a little bit tighter. "Should I have?" he murmurs against her ear, peering down over her shoulder.

Lucy wets her lips, her mouth suddenly dry. She smiles wryly, though she knows he can't see it. Something bitter creeps through her, but she shoves it down, not wanting to snap at him when none of this is his fault. "Generally," she tells him, unable to keep the slight hiss out of her words, "when someone asks a question they _are_ looking for an answer," she finishes breezily, fingers drumming against the countertop harshly.

She hears him swallow and he leans back just the slightest. Taking the chance, Lucy spins around to face him directly, her lower back pressed tightly against the counter as she peers up at him, eyes searching his face. His smile has slipped away into a small, serious frown, his brows furrowed just the slightest as he stares right back at her. "And what do you think?" he asks, wetting his lips as his gaze locks with hers. His tone is light, airy and almost teasing, but his eyes are heavy, revealing the severity of the question.

Lucy's gaze dips to his mouth briefly before snapping up. She swallows, feeling her face heat up slightly. She opens her mouth, but closes it just as quickly, unsure what exactly she wants to say. The truth? A half-lie? Maybe nothing at all. Lucy sighs through her nose, gaze drifting back to his. "I think I know what I wanted you to say," she admits after several seconds, teeth pulling at her lower lip just the slightest.

"Oh?" Natsu's head dips down, his breath fanning across her face as he shifts closer. "And what would that be?" he murmurs huskily, hips bumping against hers they're so close. Lucy inhales sharply at the contact, lips parting slightly.

She shifts slightly, pressing closer to him. She's a little bit nervous about being this close to him now that they're both sober, but if Natsu minds he certainly doesn't act like it. He takes a half step closer, pressing flush against her. "Would it make a difference if I told you?" she murmurs, eyes slipping shut as he breathes against her ear.

Natsu hums in response, breath tickling her skin. "It always does," he tells her, prying one hand off the counter top and letting it rest against her thigh just below the hem of her sweater. His thumb brushes against her soft skin, a shaky sound leaving him as Lucy shivers.

"And why's that?" she asks, swallowing thickly as the space between them vanishes.

"Because," he breathes against her lips, nose bumping against hers clumsily. Lucy's chest tightens, like there's fingers wrapping around her heart and squeezing.

She wets her lips. "That's a shitty answer," she whispers back, trying for a snort, but it comes out more like a shaky exhale against his lips.

He snorts, chuckling against her, chest vibrating against hers. "Probably," he tells her lowly, lips twisting into a smile that she can feel against her cheek, "but I don't have a better one." His fingers trail up her thigh, lifting her shirt just the slightest as his fingertips skim higher on her bare leg.

Lucy holds her breath, tilting her chin slightly before raising on her toes to finally— _finally_ close the damn distance between the two of them.

"You know people eat off that counter."

Lucy freezes in place, groaning lowly before pulling away from Natsu and casting a dirty look towards her friend grinning at her from the doorway, her smirking boyfriend close behind her. "Lisanna," Lucy hisses, wishing she could strangle the other girl with her mind and Darth Vader this bitch. She loves Lisanna, but the girl has fucking shitty timing. Granted, Lisanna doesn't know just how fucking _bad_ Lucy wants to shove Natsu against a wall and—

Lisanna just grins back, eyes sparkling with humor. Her gaze dips to Lucy's legs, half hidden behind Natsu. "Nice panties, Lucy," she compliments, winking.

Natsu clears his throat, subtly removing his hand from Lucy's bare leg, running a nervous hand through his hair before taking a step away from her and shifting back from the counter. Lucy blushes, shifting her weight to her left leg and pulling at her rumpled sweater in a poor attempt to distract from her partial nudity.

Lisanna's smirk looks eerily like Bixlow's.

Lucy gaze turns to the man with the blue Mohawk, lips twisting into a frown as frustration blooms deep in her chest. _So damn close_. "You're a bad influence on her," she tells Lisanna's boyfriend, eyes narrowing slightly.

He just grins back at her, teeth flashing behind his lips. "Probably," he says, shrugging.

Natsu releases a shaky breath and turns his back on the newcomers, opting to fiddle with the waffle iron rather than try to explain himself. He nudges Lucy with his hip, subtly edging her out of his way and she takes a step to her left, shaking her head slowly. "It's too early for this," she grumbles, blindly groping behind her for her now lukewarm waffles with a pout. Beside her, Natsu chuckles lowly and bumps her once more with his hip, this time affectionately.

Lisanna blinks at the two of them innocently, though her smile is wicked. Lucy wants to rip that grin right off her friend's face, but refrains from doing so. Bixlow wraps and arm around Lisanna, his smirk mirroring hers. She rolls her eyes. Well, aren't the two of them just perfect for each other? "Wishing you had just stayed in bed today?" Lisanna asks curiously, pretending to pick at her nails.

Lucy narrows her eyes, lips pressing into a tight line as she sends Lisanna a smile that's all teeth. "For your information," Lucy says slowly, pointing her fork at Lisanna, "I _am_." In more ways than one, of course. More sleep sounds great. Continuing whatever was just about to happen with her and Natsu sounds even better. She has no shame admitting that out loud, especially since she's supposedly been dating Natsu for several months now.

Lisanna can have her laugh now, Lucy will be the one doing it later.

She shoves a forkful of waffle into her mouth, grinning slightly. To her right, Natsu makes a soft, breathy sound and does the same, back still turned to Lisanna and Bixlow. On a typical day, Lucy would chastise him for being rude, but right now she doesn't really blame him. Besides, Lisanna and Bixlow are assholes and neither of them really seem to care all too much.

Jerks.

Lisanna shrugs, smile only growing wider. "Just don't let Loke hear you," she giggles, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively before making a show of winking at Lucy. She grabs Bixlow by the hand and drags him further into the kitchen, the two of them plopping down into seats t the cute look breakfast nook in the corner of the room.

Natsu pauses in his eating, swiveling around on his heel to send Lisanna a inquisitive look his eyes narrowed slightly. He sets his plate on the counter and Lucy is amused to find him already finished. Did he just inhale the entire thing? She hides a smile behind her fork. "Out of curiosity," Natsu says slowly, glancing between the two girls, "what would happen if Loke heard us?" His gaze rests on Lucy as he says the last part, his teeth pulling at his lip ring.

She turns away from his heated look, gaze dropping to her plate.

Lisanna doesn't comment on this little exchange, though Lucy is positive she saw it. "Lucy," she starts casually, stretching out her legs before dumping them on Bixlow's lap lackadaisically, "what happened to that boyfriend you got caught with back in high school? The one that turned tail and ran as soon as he saw Loke"

Lucy snorts, shrugging half-heartedly. "I don't know, he disappeared after that," she jokes, nudging Natsu with her elbow.

He sticks his tongue out at her, lips twisting into a mock frown. "You two are just trying to psych me out, aren't you?" he grumbles, trying to fight back the smile threatening to break his grumpy façade.

She shrugs again, shoulder pressed up against his. Lisanna giggles and Bixlow takes her hand in his, tangling their fingers together. Lucy turns to Natsu, blinking up at him innocently. "That depends," she says after a moment, sending him a small smile, "is it working?" she asks, a playful edge to her words.

Natsu narrows his eyes and bares his teeth at her in mock anger. "Come 'ere you," he growls, wrapping his arms around her waist and dragging her back up against his chest. Lucy squeals at the sudden shift in gravity, falling back against his chest easily. Natsu's cheek presses against hers and his fingers tease her sides, electing a giggle from Lucy, who jerks away from his probing fingers. He turns his face towards her, smiling against her jaw as she squeals again, his finger finding a sensitive spot just below her ribs. Natsu places a quick kiss on her cheek, his stubble scrapping against her skin roughly.

He pulls back slightly, resting his cheek against the top of her head as he looks back at Lisanna and Bixlow, a toothy smile spread across his face.

Lucy shakes her head as the other two laugh, but she can't keep the smile off her face as she leans back against Natsu's chest.

Bixlow's gaze slides to Natsu's bare shoulder. "Nice ink," he compliments, noticing one of Natsu's many tattoos. Lucy twists around slightly to get a better look, peering up at the raven on his arm in curiosity. One day she'll have to ask him about all of them, if she has the time.

"Thanks," Natsu replies, grinning back at Lisanna's boyfriend.

Lisanna snickers, glancing at Natsu with sudden interest, giving him a long once over. "Lucy," she says, still laughing, "your dad is going to hate him!" She claps her hands together once, smiling like this revelation is the best thing to happen to her all day. It might be, Lucy thinks, smiling back at the other girl. Lisanna hates Jude almost as much as Lucy does. The two of them have been friends since late early high school, when they were introduced through Laxus and Mira. Lisanna has been there for some of the lowest points of Lucy's relationship with her father, and the other girl isn't shy about how much she loathes Lucy's father.

Lucy giggles, but it's almost nervous this time, and leans further back into Natsu's chest, as if his arms could keep memories of her father from creeping into her thoughts. For his part, Natsu doesn't seem opposed to swallowing her whole. His arms curl tighter around her, fingers splayed across her stomach and rib cage protectively. He places a sloppy kiss against his hair, lips twisting into a small frown. "I know isn't it great?" she asks Lisanna, placing a hand over Natsu's.

Bixlow looks between the two of them in mild confusion, obviously not fully informed on the situation Lucy and her father are in. "Usually that's not something you want to happen," he murmurs, quirking a brow at Natsu and Lucy. "Actually, that's the exact opposite of what you want to happen," he tacks on, shrugging slightly.

"You don't know my dad," Lucy tells him gently, sighing heavily and setting her plate down on the counter behind her. "He's like Ivan times ten." She grimaces, not wanting to think about dinner last night.

If the faces of the other occupants of the room are anything to judge by neither do they.

Lisanna nods in agreement, her expression suddenly serious. "He's a total dick," she adds, patting the back of her boyfriend's hand. Bixlow blanches, but there's a spark in his eyes that Lucy thinks might mean trouble.

She snorts, rolling her eyes. Natsu makes a strange sound in the back of his throat, something midway between a growl and a snarl as his muscles tense against her back. "Yeah, and that's being nice," she mumbles,

Before Lisanna can say something else, there's a pounding of tiny feet against the floor and then two heads poke around the corner before dashing into the room, babbling excitedly about going sledding and how it's "tomorrow" and "Natsu promised."

Suddenly, Lucy is very, very glad that Lisanna walked in when she did.

* * *

One hour, a change of clothes, and a near death experience later—thank you Laxus, you asshole—and the two couples plus two small children are standing on top of a hill at the edge of Magnolia park, surveying the deserted area with critical eyes.

Lucy is almost surprised to find the park empty. Almost. Usually, it's bustling with people at all hours, small venders setting up hot chocolate stands and ice skaters twirling around on the pond in the middle of the park, children running around and having snowball fights. Though, most people don't want to be out and about at quarter to seven in the morning unless they have work. This isn't the usual time of day for people to be all gung-ho about playing in the snow, but then again most of those people aren't six-year-olds with insane amounts of energy at all hours of the day. Fuck, Lucy's only been with these kids for an hour so far and she already wants to go take a nap.

She wishes she still had this much energy. If she did, maybe she could actually get things done.

Lucy glances at Vasilisa and Yuri, who are running circles around the four adults and babbling on about something Lucy doesn't understand. She probably doesn't want to ask. If she does, it might prompt a two hour discussion about the cat Vasilisa saw on her way to Makarov's house, which will bring up the question about pets, and then suddenly it's noon and they haven't done any sledding yet, but the kids don't want to leave until they've done so.

Natsu tosses an arm around Lucy's shoulders and smirks, dropping their makeshift sleds onto the ground in front of them. Lucy grimaces, praying that no one dies because of this absolutely shitty idea. Why couldn't they have just dug the old sleds out of Makarov's garage? Oh, right, because that would take too long, according to the boys. Yeah, well, the boys can choke. This is a terrible idea and someone is probably going to break an arm and Lucy is not in the mood for a hospital visit today.

Mira is going to strangle them all if anything happens to her kids and Lucy will not be held responsible.

Lisanna seems to agree with Lucy's thoughts, turning to share a look with the nervous blonde. "This looks like a bad idea," the other girl murmurs, glancing down at the "sleds" with a disturbed look. Lucy nods in agreement, peeling her eyes away from Lisanna to peer up at Natsu through her lashes, lips twisted down into a small frown.

"Someone's going to die," she comments offhandedly, nudging the closest makeshift sled with a look of disgust.

Natsu huffs, rolling his eyes as he curls his arm tighter around Lucy, dragging her into his side. "No one is going to die," he tells them, scoffing. "This is completely safe," he argues, sharing his own look with Bixlow over the girls' heads. "Right, Bixlow?" The other man nods, grinning and shooting Natsu a thumbs up.

Lucy's lips press into a thin line, her eyes narrowing just a tick. "You say that now," she grumbles, looping an arm around Natsu's waist, the other shooting out to keep a giggling Yuri from face planting into the snow. Not that the kid would have cared. He probably would have just found it funny to fall over in the snow. Lucy sniffs, pulling her scarf over her nose to keep out the cold.

"Lucy, no one is going to die," Natsu repeats, smiling down at her and shrugging.

She just laughs bitterly, no humor in her tone at all. "Natsu," she says, sighing heavily, not sure why she needs to explain this to a grown ass adult. "You want these kids to slide down a hill on old cookie sheets that you and Bixlow greased," she states blankly, sending him a look that just screams unimpressed. "That doesn't exactly scream safety," she tells him, eyes narrowing as she looks at him.

Yup, the boys' brilliant solution to the nonexistent sled problem was to did out a pair of cookie sheets shoved in the back of Makarov's cabinets and _grease_ them. How the hell does that sound like a good fucking solution? How is that more safe than just spending an extra thirty minutes looking for the actual sleds that Makarov has tucked away in his garage?

Trick question, it's not. Someone's going to get hurt and Lucy is going to have to explain to paramedics about how her "boyfriend" is a dumbass and she was too tired to argue with him.

Natsu sends her a wicked smile, lips pulling back over his teeth. He tilts his head down just enough to whisper in her ear. "A lot of things about _me_ don't scream safe," he reminds her, lips skimming her skin. "Yet here we are." She can feel his smile against her cheek.

Lucy elects to ignore him. "If those kids get hurt," she hisses at him, lips twisting into a frown, "Mira's going to kill you." She opts for a sharp look when she peers up at him, hoping he'll reconsider and realize this is a horribly stupid plan. Natsu is smarter than this, she knows he is.

He shrugs, grinning at her, not looking the least bit affected by her dark look. "Yeah," he agrees, "but you'll protect me right?"

Lucy rolls her eyes, curling just a bit closer to him as a gust of wind blows by. Lisa and Yuri shriek, throwing handfuls of snow at each other as they completely ignore the adults' conversation. "Not a chance," she whispers back, shoving her cold fingers into her pockets.

He gasps, placing a hand over his wounded heart in mock hurt, his eyes betraying his expression as they spark with amusement. She's come to learn that Natsu wears his heart on his sleeves. His eyes don't lie. "That's cold, Lucy," he mumbles, green eyes flashing with humor. "It really is." His arm slips from her shoulders down to her waist, which she's noticed he does a lot. She's not sure why he likes to have his hand there so often, but she can't really complain. She likes it there, too.

Yuri and Lisa stop running suddenly, opting to plop onto the snow by Lucy's feet instead. She makes a face at the twins and they giggle back, blue eyes bright against the white snow and their pale hair. If Lucy isn't careful, she might just lose them in the snow. She shakes her head, smiling softly down at the two of them, amusement creeping back into her expression.

All right, so maybe this isn't the worst plan ever. She's pretty sure she did something similar with Loke and Laxus back when they were younger. Of course, that might have been the year that Laxus broke his arm during a sledding accident, but she can't be certain.

The Dreyar side of the family always has been one to touch the fire to see if it's hot. Which probably explains a lot of things about her family, in hindsight. All of them just seem to go looking for trouble. They like the things that burn them just a little bit, enough to hurt but not enough for them to stop coming back to it.

And she finally understands why, she thinks, leaning against Natsu's chest with a fond smile on her face. Nothing in life that's worth having is easy. And fighting for it is half the fun.

The twins start to make snow angels, looking happy as clams despite the freezing weather, and Lucy shakes her head, sighing happily and pulling one hand out of her pocket, opting to grab Natsu's hand instead. He smiles, but she refuses to look at him.

Behind them, Lisanna whistles, and Lucy turns around to find the two of them backing away slowly, Bixlow with a huge smile on his face and Lisanna slowly turning the same shade as a ripe tomato. Lucy quirks a brow, wondering what the two of them are up to. Lisanna clears her throat, smiling a bit shyly. "Hey you two," she says, giggling slightly. "Bixlow and I are going to go take a walk," she says casually, jerking a thumb over her shoulder as Bixlow takes another step back, tugging her along with him. "We'll be back in a little bit to switch off with you two as babysitters."

Lisanna squeals suddenly, and though Lucy can't be certain, she's pretty sure Bixlow just pinched the other girl's butt.

Classy.

Bixlow nods excitedly, a megawatt grin on his face. "Yeah," he agrees, smirking at Natsu and Lucy, the former of which peering over Lucy's head to look at them, keeping one eye on the children near his feet. "Then you guys can go find another kitchen to get freaky in," he jokes, winking at them.

Lucy sighs, irritation prickling at her skin. "We weren't getting freaky in the kitchen," she hisses back at him. And they weren't. She definitely wanted to, and they probably would have if they weren't so rudely interrupted by the other pair, but they definitely didn't get freaky in Makarov's kitchen. Maybe next time though.

Well, she hopes.

Bixlow rolls his eyes, scoffing at Lucy and waving her off with a flick of the wrist. "Only because you were interrupted," he reminds her, practically reading Lucy's thoughts.

Lucy pauses, eyes narrowing just the slightest. Can he actually read her mind? Because that would be absolutely terrifying, given that most of her thoughts the past few days have consisted of her wanting to make out with Natsu—amongst other, more graphic things—and her just repeating "fuck" over and over in her brain.

Bixlow blinks.

Natsu shifts in place, head tilting until his lips are next to Lucy's ear. "He does have a point," he murmurs against her hair, fingers playing with hers absentmindedly. His hand squeezes hers suddenly and she glances up to see a slightly pensive expression on his face, his brows narrowing just a tick at he stares at Bixlow.

Bixlow grins, apparently taking Natsu's whisper as agreement on his part. Which is true, but also weird. Bixlow, she decides, is definitely a mind reader and she's going to find out how.

If anything, his smile only widens more, and that freaks Lucy out more than just a little bit. "Thank you, Natsu, my man," he calls back to them, shooting Natsu a pair of finger guns while winking.

"No problem, Bix!" Natsu laughs, sending the other boy a thumbs up. Lisanna frowns, tugging impatiently on Bixlow's arm, this time being the one to drag him a step back.

Lucy frowns at the odd familiarity between the boys, her eyes narrowing as she glances between them quickly. What the hell? They aren't supposed to become friends! That's just going to make everything more awkward when she and Natsu have to "breakup" sometime after the holidays. "When the hell did you two bond?" she asks Natsu, peering up at him curiously.

He grins down at her, peeling his eyes away from Bixlow in order to meet hers. She thinks all of this is incredibly weird, but who is she to stop Natsu from making friends? Even if it does fuck with her plans just a little bit. Whatever, it's not like she's ever going to see Bixlow again after this, right? "On the walk over here," Natsu starts, squeezing her hip with one hand, "we talked about ice hockey and complimented each other's hair." He gestures to the mess of pink on his head to Bixlow's tall, blue Mohawk with his free hand.

Bixlow's head bobs in agreement, and even Lisanna pauses to send the boys an odd look. Good on them, Lucy thinks, shrugging. Boys could do with complimenting each other a little more often. There's nothing wrong with telling another guy his hair looks badass (which Lucy can admit that both Bixlow and Natsu's hair does).

"He's taking me out for lunch next Friday," Bixlow tells the girls, winking at Natsu playfully. "It's going to be very romantic and the two of us might hit it off," he jokes, yanking Lisanna into a tight embrace when the girl swats at his shoulder with a mock pout.

Natsu laughs and gives Lucy a brief squeeze as well. "Also we've been invited to a New Year's party," Natsu tells Lucy, a wide grin on his face. Lucy's heart seizes, her throat closing up as she registers his words. He's looking down at her sincerely, as if he actually wants to take her to a New Year's party with their friends.

She can't help but wonder if he wants to stretch things out that long, or if he means something entirely different.

Lisanna whirls on her boyfriend, drawing Lucy's attention back to the other couple. "Dammit, Bixlow!" she huffs, swatting at his shoulder once more, though there's a smile on her lips. "I wanted to ask them!" she pouts, placing her hands on her hips.

Bixlow just shrugs and loops an arm around her waist, lifting her straight off the ground and tossing her over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes. Lisanna squeals and he just laughs, walking the two of them backwards and waving a short goodbye to Natsu and Lucy. "Too slow, Babe!" he jokes, spinning the two of them around. Lisanna wraps her arms around the man's neck, giggling and waving at Natsu and Lucy with a gloved hand.

Lucy blinks, not sure how to process everything that just happened in the span of five minutes. "I think they just ditched us to go make out somewhere," she notes casually, leaning against Natsu's side.

He laughs, the movement vibrating through her as well. The two of them turn back to the kids, who have moved a few feet away from them at this point. "Probably," he agrees. Are you mad?"

She shakes her head. "Nope."

Natsu nods in return, placing a wet, sloppy kiss against Lucy's cheek before looking at the kids. "Are you two ready to play a game?" he calls over to them, watching as the kids just to attention and begin nodding wildly. "Good!" Natsu smiles, releasing his hold on her.

Lucy watches silently as Natsu dashes over to the two children, kneeling in the snow in front of them and ignoring the water soaking into his jeans. He talks to the children in a hushed, but animated voice, his hands moving wildly as he talks to the two of them, explaining what they're going to do. He glances at Lucy quickly, meeting her eyes and smiling for a brief moment before looking away and placing a hand on each of the twins' shoulders, his grin only widening as the kids begin to bounce in excitement, the pair of them throwing their arms around Natsu in a tight hug, nearly knocking him backwards into the snow.

She giggles, shaking her head, but doesn't say anything as Natsu hoists Lisa and Yuri into his arms and drags both of the cookie sheets with him over to the edge of the hill, holding it steady as he plops the kids down onto one sheet before dropping onto the other himself.

Natsu leans towards the kids once more, murmuring something in their ears before shoving the cookie sheet forward gently, sending the twins sailing down the hill. He twists in place, sending Lucy a wink and a smile before disappearing down the hill as well.

Gasping, Lucy darts forward, freezing at the top of the hill as she hears the twins' high pitched laughter. She laughs herself as she watches the three of them reach the bottom of the hill, the twins spiraling slightly before coming to a stop a few feet behind Natsu, who leaps to his feet, sled in one hand, and scoops the kids up into his arms, one over each shoulder.

Their laughter only grows in volume as Natsu spins them around quickly, the twins wrapping their arms around his neck as they giggle and twirl around in the snow. Natsu stops suddenly, staring up at Lucy from the bottom of the hill. His smile widens as he sees her watching, his green eyes and pastel hair bright against the backdrop of snow. He mouths something that she can't quite see.

She knows what it is though, even without being able to read his lips.

 _Told you._

Yeah, he did.

* * *

 **AN: Sorry for the two day break! I didn't feel like writing yesterday tbh**

 **Again, reviewers get a preview of the chapters before I post them as a thank you! I love getting feedback from you guys, thank you so much :)**

 **This is the half-point folks! Next chapter things start to heat up!**

 **Also, how would you guys feel about a side story based on Bixlow and Lisanna's relationship/friends with benefits situation? How about a fic based one year in the future where Natsu and Lucy are the one's hosting Christmas?**


	5. Melancholy Hill

**AN: Fun fact! The chapter title came from the Gorillaz song of the same name :) It's what I listened to while writing the last scene of the chapter!**

 **Deck the Halls, Bitches**

 **Part Five: Melancholy Hill**

* * *

 **Friday, December 23rd**

Lucy can honestly say that today was one of the _best_ mornings she's had in a long time. She woke up in bed with an incredibly attractive not-stranger. She successfully made amaze waffles. And she had a fun morning out with her friends—she's decided that Bixlow is definitely a friend she wants to have. Partly because he makes Lisanna happy and partly because he's just really fucking funny—and her favorite niece and nephew. Granted, they're her only niece and nephew, unless Loke and Aries aren't telling her something, but she thinks they might always be her favorites. They're hard not to love.

She glances sideways at Natsu, grinning as she shifts Vasilisa in her arms, the little girl fast asleep with her arms wrapped around Lucy's neck. Vasilisa and Yuri are definitely Natsu's favorite, however, judging by how Natsu is letting Yuri sleep on his shoulder, the little boy's face smashed against Natsu's hair and Natsu's dark beanie settled atop Yuri's head, slipping over his eyes as it's much too big for him.

He must have a thing for charming Dreyars, she thinks, smiling. First her, then Makarov, then the kids—hell she even saw him drinking with Laxus and Loke last night, the three of them laughing about something. He might charm the pants off of Ivan if he isn't careful.

Natsu notices her staring and turns towards her, smiling as he gives her palm a squeeze. "What?" he murmurs, keeping his voice down so as not to wake the sleeping kids. He gives her hand a tug, drawing her closer to his side easily. Lucy bumps her shoulder against his, gaze sliding to Bixlow and Lisanna in front of them, the other couple goofing off as they share a stupidly large pretzel

Lucy shakes her head, still smiling widely. Natsu quirks a brow, a silent question in his eyes, and Lucy glances at him once more. "It's nothing," she tells him gently, shifting Vasilisa as best she can with only one arm. "Just…" she trails off, not sure how to explain just how happy she feels right now. She hasn't felt quite this elated for what feels like a long time. Sure, Cana and Gajeel make her happy, but she really has missed her family. And there's just something about Natsu that makes her never want to stop smiling. "Today was fun," she settles on, finishing her thought after several long seconds.

Natsu chuckles, fingers tightening around hers. "You could say that," he says, grinning down at her.

It was a fun day, and an interesting one, at that. Natsu's greased up cookie sheets of death were a success and that kids were absolutely elated to go sledding. Before any of them even knew it, it was nearly eleven and the kids were exhausted, leading the six of them—four if you exclude the nearly comatose children that were no help whatsoever—to pack up for the day and make the long trek home, the group opting to walk both there and back rather than waste gas. On the way back, they made a brief pit stop to buy hot chocolate and pretzels and overall it was just a really nice day. There's no other way to say it.

"Hey, you two!" Lisanna call from in front of them, grinning as she walks backwards. The other girl nearly trips over the curb as they walk down the street towards the house just a few hundred feet away, but Bixlow catches her before she can fall, steadying her with a hand on her back and a roll of his eyes. He smiles down at his girlfriend and Lisanna blows him a kiss before looking back at Natsu and Lucy. "Hurry it up," she tells them, jerking a finger towards the house. "We're going to go inside and watch some shitty Christmas movies."

Bixlow pumps a fist into the air, sending them a lopsided grin. "Claymation marathon here we come!" he calls, whooping and doing a weird little dance. Lucy has to stifle a laugh, hiding her smile behind Vasilisa's hat. Natsu isn't quite as tactful, but she likes that about him.

Lisanna isn't as amused. She turns to Bixlow, mitten covered hands on her hips as she narrows her eyes at her boyfriend. "Those movies aren't shitty," she hisses back at him, looking like he's personally offended her, or called her grandmother a whore.

Bixlow sends her a sad smile, ruffling her hair playfully. "They kind of are, Sugar," he tells her gently. Lisanna gasps, face heating up as her eyes narrow further, and Natsu and Lucy share a quick look.

Natsu cuts Lisanna off before she can berate Bixlow on his awful opinion of claymation movies—a tirade that Lucy has heard several times in the past, usually ending in bloodshed and tears. Not necessarily in that order. "Thanks for the offer," he tells the two of them, smiling at the genuinely, "but we're going to take a walk." His smile turns teasing. "You know, considering you two never _came back_."

Lucy snorts, pressing her lips together to keep from bursting into laughter. After three hours of sledding, Natsu and Lucy were surprised that Lisanna and Bixlow had never come back, and Lucy was rather miffed that the pair had ditched them to go do who knows what in the woods.

It took a half-hour of searching to find them, but Natsu and Lucy eventually did. They were, as predicted, in the woods making rather sinful snow angels below a rather tall pine tree.

Luckily, the two hadn't managed to strip themselves, otherwise they probably _would_ have had to take a trip to the emergency room today.

The couple gasps, eyes widening in tandem.

"We already apologized for that!"

"And we bought you a pretzel!"

The pair waits for Natsu and Lucy to get closer to them before scooping the sleeping kids out of their arms, being careful not to wake them. Vasilisa is pulled out of her arm by Lisanna and Bixlow takes Yuri, the two of them flashing Natsu and Lucy smiles before darting towards the warm house. Natsu huffs slightly as his hat is whisked away with them, but he just smiles and shakes his head before tossing an arm around Lucy casually.

They walk in comfortable silence for a few yards. "I didn't know you were good with kids," Lucy murmurs suddenly, smiling as it begins to snow, flakes dotting her hair and sticking to her lashes.

Natsu laughs. "You didn't ask," he tells her, echoing himself from the night before. He sends her a knowing look as Lucy pauses, slipping out from under his arm. Natsu just smiles walking backwards and sending her a challenging look, one brow quirked up as he stares at her.

"Bite me," Lucy calls to him, shaking her head as he turns into the yard, walking towards the porch slowly. This man… She's unable to keep the smile off her face as he continues walking backwards, nearly slipping on a patch of ice.

Natsu grins. "Maybe later," he calls back, winking at her before spinning around and heading for the house. Lucy gasps at his bold comment, steps faltering just the slightest. She pauses, staring at his retreating form for half a second before her gaze dips to the fresh snow.

A wicked smile splits her face.

"Hey, Natsu!" she shouts, scooping up a handful of snow and packing it into a tight ball.

He spins on his heel, a smile on his face. What—" The snowball hits him right between the eyes, the white power exploding everywhere, covering his face and hair, some of it dripping down the front of his coat. He blinks at her, shock written all across his face. He opens his mouth to speak, but then closes it again, simply staring at her in surprise. "Did you really just—" he blinks at her, cutting himself off.

Lucy shrugs, sending him as innocent a look as she can muster. "Maybe, maybe not," she tells him casually, shaking snow from her hair and sending him a teasing smile. "What are you going to do about it?" she asks him, giving him a quick once over.

His lips twist into a smirk suddenly, and he bends at the waist, scooping up his own handful of snow. Lucy's eyes widen in understanding, but she doesn't have enough time to run away or create her own snowball so she does the next best thing and bolts in his direction. "This!" Natsu shouts, tossing the snowball her way.

Lucy shrieks as it hits her shoulder, her scream melting into a giggle as she tosses another snowball back at him, only to be pelted with two at once. The odds are clearly not in her favor this time, she thinks, ducking to avoid taking a hit to the face. She blindly throws one back at him, trying to think of the best way to attack as the two continue to throw handfuls of snow at each other, not even bothering to pack them together any longer.

Neither of them notice the car pull up until it's too late.

Natsu darts towards her, and Lucy jumps out of the way, attempting to run towards the front door, where it'll be safe, only for Natsu to catch her by the waist half way there, yanking her back against his chest and lifting her clear of the ground, cackling against her ear. He spins the two of them around in fast circles, Lucy giggling all the while, until someone clears their throat, causing Natsu to pause in his spinning.

Natsu peers up at the unfamiliar man, smile still firmly in place, but Lucy shrinks back into his chest, her grip tightening on his arms, still locked around her middle. "Dad," Lucy whispers shakily, her face going white as she catches sight of her incredibly displeased father staring down at her, a look akin to disgust spread across his face. Natsu freezes against her back at the word, arms growing tense around her as they both stare at the new arrival. Neither of them move, the two of them barely breathing as they're stared down by Lucy's father.

In his arms, Lucy begins to shiver, though Natsu isn't sure if it's because of the cold or the man standing in front of them. He straightens suddenly, spine cracking as he stands at his full height and stares right back at Jude Heartfilia, lips pressed into a tight line.

Jude ignores him, his gaze focused solely on his daughter. "Lucy," he replies, voice clipped as he glances from the snow in Lucy's hair to the arms around her waist, and finally to Natsu. He sends the younger man an unimpressed look, turning up his nose at the man's brightly colored hair and assortment of piercings.

Lucy is at a lose for words and simply stares at her father, heart sinking into her stomach. He isn't supposed to be here yet, she thinks to herself. Makarov said he wasn't coming until tomorrow. _He's not supposed to be here yet_. Lucy's good mood sours, her mouth going dry. "I didn't know you were coming today," she says softly, unable to hold her father's gaze. Her eyes drop to the snow beneath them, fingers curling tighter around Natsu's arm as she tries to shrink into his chest, willing the ground to swallow her whole.

Jude is either ignorant to her distress or he simply doesn't care. Lucy would bet on the latter. He never has given a fuck about her unless she could do something for him. He clears his throat once more, jaw clenching as he notes her disappointed tone. "I decided to come down early," he tells her casually. "Spend some time with my only daughter." She doesn't miss the slight his in his words.

She cringes, but Natsu pulls her closer to his chest, keeping her steady. Lucy tries to smile up at her father, but it falls flat. "This is Natsu," she says awkwardly, introducing the boy wrapped around her like a vice. "We've been going out for a while," she lies, though it's not like her father would ever know.

Natsu swallows thickly, wetting his dry lips. "Hello, Sir," he greets politely, smile forced as he holds out a hand for Jude to shake. Lucy's can't see it, but there's something steely in his gaze—something sharp that has Jude taking a step back in surprise, his eyes widening just the slightest.

Jude ignores his hand, much like the Dreyar's had yesterday, but Lucy knows that this isn't a test. Her father just doesn't give a shit about being polite to someone that looks like Natsu. He never has, and she doubts he ever will. "I'll be in the house talking with Makarov," he tells her, tone clipped as he straightens his back, turning on his heel to walk up the porch without a second glance.

Lucy swallows down the lump in her throat, wishing he didn't still have this much power over her. Whenever he's around she turns right back into that scared little girl that she used to be. Her palms won't stop shaking and she's suddenly very glad that Natsu hasn't let go of her, she doesn't know if she can stand by herself at the moment.

As if sensing her thoughts, Natsu's arms coil around her tighter, keeping her pressed to his front protectively as he stares at the door Jude disappeared behind with something akin to rage on his face.

"Don't worry about Judy, Min Kære," another voice speaks up softly from Lucy's left. Her head snaps around, a beautiful smile spreading across her face as she recognizes her grandmother. "He's been like this all week," the old woman tells the couple, sighing as she stares in the same direction as Natsu. She turns back to Lucy, eyes twinkling in amusement. "And he calls us moody," she jokes.

"Grandma," Lucy breathes back. Natsu's arms slip from her waist and Lucy takes a step forward, engulfing the shorter woman in a gently hug. It's been so long since she's seen her grandmother, nearly a year at this point. Ida Heartfilia is always on the move, traveling from one place to the next, never slowing down. That's how Lucy's always wanted to be. Maybe someday she still will. "Oh, it's good to see you," she whispers, ducking to press her face against Ida's shoulder, willing herself not to cry.

Ida releases her pulling back just enough to give Lucy a once-over, smiling softly. "You too, Min Kære," she murmurs, leaning forward to press a quick kiss against Lucy's cheek before pulling back and peering around her. "Now, who's this?" she asks curiously, smiling up at Natsu, who blinks back owlishly.

He points an astonished finger at himself, blinking in confusion when Ida nods, smiling wider as she looks at the intimidating, albeit nervous man standing in front of her. A crooked smile slips onto his face, and he steps up to reach for the woman's hand. "I'm Natsu, Ma'am," he introduces himself politely, probably thinking he's about to finally shake someone's hand this week.

Ida purses her lips, eyes narrowing just a tick. "Don't you 'Ma'am' me, Boy," she snaps, though not unkindly, freezing Natsu in his tracks. "Now come here," she orders, yanking the confused young man into a bear hug. Ida gives his a tight squeeze, surprisingly strong for an older lady, before releasing him and sending him a critical look. Natsu seems to pass her inspection, because Ida goes right back to smiling, giving Natsu a gentle pat on the cheek before stepping back.

Natsu blinks back at her in shock, bemusement creeping onto his face as he glances between Lucy, her grandmother, and the direction her father disappeared to. Lucy can understand his confusion. The happy Heartfilia gene seemed to have skipped a generation, unfortunately. "Umm, thank you?" he murmurs to Ida, head cocking to the side as a smile creeps onto his face.

Ida nods, accepting his thanks. "You're a good one," she tells Natsu suddenly, eyes crinkling at the edges due to her wide smile.

Natsu shifts awkwardly, shoving his hands into his coat pockets his gaze dropping to the floor, eyes a bit sad. "Not always," he tells her, smiling ruefully. He swallows thickly, unable to look at either woman. "But I try to be," he continues, giving Ida a half-smile.

Ida just grins, a strange twinkle in her eyes. "That's what makes you a good one," she tells Natsu, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing. They share a long look that Lucy doesn't quite understand, but then Ida straightens, grin turning a bit dopey as she glances at Lucy. "Well," she tells them, dipping to hoist her bag onto her shoulder. Natsu tries to help her, but she just waves him off. "I'll be inside. I need to chat with Makarov anyway," she tacks on at the end, smile only widening.

Lucy sighs, shaking her head slowly. "Grandma," she whines, placing her hands on her hips, a mock stern expression on her face. "Please, don't try to seduce him," she pleads, brown eyes wide as she pouts. They really don't need a repeat of the Christmas of twenty twelve. She never wants to find them playing strip poker again.

Ida just winks. "I promise nothing," she tells Lucy, a pleasing lilt to her voice. The old woman surprises Natsu by twisting on her heel and actually skipping over to the porch. _Skipping_.

The two of them are silent for a while, and Lucy's mind goes right back to the clipped conversation with her father. He still makes her so damn upset and she hates herself for that.

Natsu seems to read her thoughts. "Is he always that cold," he murmurs, shoulder brushing against hers gently.

She nods, wetting her lips. "Yeah," she chokes out, curling her arms around herself defensively. "Ever since I can remember."

Natsu is silent for a long moment, shifting from foot to foot as he thinks. "Lucy," he starts sadly, she just shakes her head cutting him off politely.

Lucy swallows thickly, blinking away tears. "Can we go for that walk now?" she asks quietly, unable to meet his eyes.

Natsu leads her away from the house without a word.

* * *

By the time the two of them get back to the house it's just past one in the afternoon and neither of them have said a word to each other the entire time. Natsu seems to have sensed she was in no mood to talk about her father, so he didn't try to bring it up, which she's thankful for. All she needed was the silence and he gave that to her. They just walked around, hands locked together, and neither of them needed to say anything.

She thinks that's something she's been missing for a very long time.

Natsu holds the door open for her when they get back to the house and she sends him a small smile, hoping it doesn't look quite as sad as she thinks it does. Natsu just grins back, his own smile a little subdued. Together, they creep into the quiet house, trying to get through the door unnoticed and hopefully disappear up the stairs before they're cornered by Lucy's father, who's probably been waiting for them to get back this entire time.

The house is quiet, too quiet and that leaves a sinking feeling in Lucy's stomach. There's nothing like her father to send the party down the drain. She was expecting more chaos, but it seems like everyone else had the smart idea to stay in their rooms today.

Lucy is in the process of unwinding her ridiculously long scarf when Mira and Laxus appear from the living room, Mira with a small smile on her lips and Laxus scowling just a little deeper than usual. "Hey," Mira whispers, lips pressed into a thin smile that betrays her happy exterior.

Lucy's father has put them all on edge and he's only been here for an hour.

"Hi," she whispers back, sending Mira a smile that looks more like a grimace than anything else. Lucy lets her scarf slip to the floor as she shrugs off her jacket, sending Natsu a small smile when he helps her wiggle out of the arms. He sends her a grin that practically mirrors hers, shedding his own winter clothing in silence.

Mira sighs, trying hard to keep up her happy exterior. Lucy knows that there's a demon under her skin though, and it's taking all Mira has not to unleash it on her asshole father. "Thanks for watching the kids this morning," she says sincerely, obviously thankful for the extra hours of sleep she must have gotten this morning.

Lucy nods, smile widening just the slightest. "Yeah," she says, waving the couple off as politely as she can. She really just doesn't want to talk to anyone at the moment. She loves Mira and she's thankful for the concern, but it's not what she needs right now. "No problem, they were great."

Mira nods in return. "They're sleeping now," she tacks on offhandedly, chewing her lower lip nervously. Laxus glances between the girls, obviously tired of the polite, albeit useless conversation, especially when they all know what they really want to talk about.

"That's good."

Laxus sighs heavily, eyes narrowing in frustration. He crosses his arms over his chest, jaw clenched tightly. "All right," he cuts into the girls' conversation, practically growling at them, his voice is nothing but a deep rumble. "What the hell is he doing here?" Laxus snarls, lips pressed into a thin, obviously angry line.

Lucy just sighs, shaking her head slowly. Natsu bumps his hand against hers and she threads her fingers through his gratefully. Laxus leans against the door-frame, clearly waiting for some kind of explanation. "I don't know," Lucy tells them gently, squeezing Natsu's fingers absentmindedly. "He wasn't to show up until tomorrow." She exhales through her nose heavily, using her free hand to rub at her tired eyes. "He said he wanted to see me," she continues, snorting as a sarcastic smile creeps onto her lips. "Which is bullshit and we both know it," Lucy finishes, laughing bitterly.

Natsu frowns, thumb brushing across Lucy's knuckles as he peers down at her, jaw locked tightly. "Does he do this a lot?" he asks lowly, voice nothing but a rumble. Lucy has to strain to hear him through her racing thoughts. "Show up unexpectedly, that is?"

Lucy nods. "He has this horrible habit of popping up whenever I'm too happy," she tells him, deathly serious.

Natsu and Laxus share a look, mutual understanding in their gazes. "Do you want us to beat him up for you?" Laxus asks her, nodding in Natsu's direction.

Lucy just shakes her head. Hopefully, she can just ignore him until he leaves. She snorts softly, bitter smile growing just the slightest.

Yeah, she knows how much he likes that.

Mira clears her throat softly. "Ida and Makarov are in the kitchen with Jude," she tells the couple, glancing between the two of them. "Everyone else is downstairs watching movies, why don't you two go join them?" It's subtle, but Lucy knows that it's less of a suggestion and more of an order. Her father is less likely to bother Lucy if she's in a group.

"Yeah," she nods, turning towards the stairs without a second thought, pulling Natsu along with her.

"Hey," Laxus grunts, placing a hand on Natsu's shoulder briefly. He pauses, blinking up at the older male. "Watch her," Laxus warns him, hand slipping away.

"I will," Natsu promises, nodding at Laxus before letting Lucy tug him towards the basement stairs, an utterly serious look on the man's face. Laxus and Natsu share one last look before the girl's drag them away, expressions promising blood, should Jude make Lucy anymore upset.

The pair slips into the basement quietly, easily mixing themselves into the assorted group of Lucy's relatives spread across two couches, an old armchair, and the floor. Loke and Aries have claimed the chair, curled up together and clearly content as they whisper back and forth, not really paying attention to the movie. Elfman and Evergreen have claimed one of the couches, Evergreen sprawled across the cushions as she braids Elfman's hair, him sitting on the floor in front of her, gaze glued to the screen. Bixlow and Lisanna are settled on the other couch, curled up on one end. They notice Natsu and Lucy when the pair walks in and waves them over cheerfully.

Lucy smiles back at them and Natsu leads her over to the empty space on the couch, Natsu dropping onto the worn fabric before pulling her down on top of his and wrapping her up in his arms.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon had gone a lot better than expected, mostly because she spent the majority of the time hiding in the basement with Natsu and everyone else. At some point she must have fallen asleep, because at roughly six she been shaken awake by an equally drowsy Natsu telling her that it was time to eat. She really didn't want to get up, but then she realized that neither of them had really eaten since that morning, so she begrudgingly slide of Natsu's lap, pulling him up with her. He had laughed, letting her drag him up the stairs, Lisanna and Bixlow trailing behind them sleepily.

Thankfully, dinner hadn't gone quite as horribly as the night before. In fact, there was hardly any widespread conversation at all. Mostly, it was just idle chat revolving around everyone's jobs and Ida's world travels. Lucy had managed to avoid her father entirely, with Bixlow and Lisanna placing themselves between Lucy and her father and taking one for the team. The other couple had been great, always cutting of Jude with some odd facts and babble whenever the older man tried to speak to Lucy. It was rather hilarious, and Lucy has a feeling that Laxus put them up to it, judging by his constant smirk all throughout dinner.

It's just a matter of time though. Eventually, Lucy will have to speak to her father. All she can do it postpone the inevitable for as long as possible.

Though, that thought has been shoved to the back of her mind for now, as she has more important things to worry about at the moment.

Somehow, she and Natsu have been roped into making cookies for everyone, which was fine, at first. The pair of them had been having fun—cracking jokes back and forth as they made the first few batches. It was quiet, everyone else having spread out throughout the house as they waited for the cookies to be finished. It was around the fifth batch that things started to get a little crazy.

Lucy isn't entirely sure how baking cookies turned into an all out food fight, but here she is, covered in raw cookie dough with melted chocolate smeared across her left cheek. And here's her grandfather's kitchen, a complete and utter mess of ingredients exploded across the floor and walls. She doesn't even want to think about how much of a pain it's going to be to clean this mess up later, or how horrified Makarov is going to be to find his kitchen an utter disaster. A glob of dough drips from the ceiling right in front of her, landing with a smack and splattering across her bare legs.

Wonderful.

Her right arm bends back, poised to throw an egg at the enemy as she glares at him from in front of the stove, left hand clenching the discarded cookie sheet, brandishing it before her like a shield.

Natsu sends her a cheeky grin from where he's hiding behind the center island, egg yolks dripping down his neck and his rosy hair stained white with flower. There's melted chocolate smeared across his lower lip from a well aimed throw on her part, and briefly she conjures the thought of licking it off before banishing the thought away for another time. Right now this is war.

His hands are up in front of him, showing his surrender, but Lucy doesn't believe it for a second. She knows better than to ever let her guard down, she grew up with two male cousins that loved to lull her into a false sense of security. She's not dumb enough to think Natsu doesn't have a few tricks up his sleeve.

"Lucy," Natsu laughs, hands in front of him protectively, "come on! I give, I give!" He creeps out from behind the island, grinning at her so widely she thinks his face might split, before shaking his head so that flour flies across the room in a great, white cloud that tickles her nose and makes her sneeze. "You win," he tells her, a teasing note in his voice.

The flour clears quickly, revealing Natsu standing before her, covered in egg and flour and all sorts of cooking ingredients, but smiling down at her nonetheless. His green eyes are alight with humor, and he looks the happiest she's seen him since her father showed up unexpectedly. His tongue swipes across his lower lip, wiping away most of the chocolate there, and Lucy can't help but feel just a little bit disappointed.

She doesn't lower her hand though, only raises a brow at him and lifts the egg higher. It's a silent challenge, she knows. And one she's not likely to win, at that, but she's going to try.

Natsu notices this, casting a weary glance at the egg clutched between her lithe fingers, but otherwise does nothing.

Lucy tries not to smile as he peers down at her with wide green eyes, but her lips twitch, quirking up at the corners. Natsu's smile only widens when he sees hers, and, tentatively, he reaches out, thumb stroking across her cheek, wiping away the smear of chocolate.

Natsu grins down at her, leaning forward and caging her against the counter in what Lucy realizes is the exact same spot from this morning. He places his hands against the counter by her hips, gaze slipping to her lips briefly. "Hey," he murmurs casually, ignoring the egg yolk sliding down his collarbone slowly.

Lucy smiles back, ripping her gaze away from his neck. "I am never making cookies with you again," she tells him, unable to keep the smile off her face as she locks eyes with him. This kitchen is an utter disaster. She doesn't want to know what might happen the next time the two of them try to cook something.

Assuming there is a next time, of course.

Natsu shrugs, shuffling closer and trapping her between the counter and his chest, though Lucy doesn't mind in the slightest. "Well, that's a shame," he tells her, thumbing at her hip absentmindedly as he smiles down at her, quirking a brow when she shivers against him. "I'm great at baking," he tacks on, gaze slipping to a bit of raw dough smeared across her shoulder.

Lucy's heart stutters and she holds her breath, willing him to do something— _anything_ , but he seems intent on being a complete and utter tease. Lucy isn't stupid. She knows he wants to kiss her just as much as she wants to kiss him. It's just that the universe seems determined to prolong it for as long as humanly possible. "You're covered in flour and egg," Lucy breathes back, swallowing hard and trying her best not to just drag his mouth down to hers and make an even bigger mess out of the kitchen.

The last thing she needs is for someone to walk in on them rolling around in a mess of cookie dough, however.

Natsu grins, pressing her against the counter with his hips. "And whose fault is that?" he asks her, voice husky. His green eyes flash with something Lucy doesn't catch, but it sends a spike of heart through her chest regardless.

She licks her lips, gaze dipping to his mouth. "Yours," she murmurs, eyes locking on his lip piercing in rapt fascination, watching as if moves every time his lips twist into a smile.

He snorts, peering down at her in amusement. "I seem to recall you throwing the first punch," he reminds her, voice light and teasing. Technically, she did start the food fight by flicking a bit of flour in his face, but he definitely deserved it! And he was the one who threw the first egg, so he's mostly to blame.

Lucy giggles, slipping a finger through one of his belt loops and giving it a playful tug. "I merely retaliated," she tells him, scoffing.

Natsu snorts, gaze dipping to her hand briefly, before snapping back to her face just as quickly. "Retaliated what?" he asks her, smothering a laugh. "I didn't do anything!" he reminds her, clucking his tongue in faux irritation.

She gives his belt loop another sharp tug, ignoring the way the button of his pants is digging into her skin just the slightest. "You were looking mischievous," she tells him, looking up at him through her eyelashes and grinning innocently.

Natsu quirks a brow, smirking as he ducks his head down, nose nearly grazing against hers. "So you threw flour at me?" he asks, voice low and gravely.

"Yeah," Lucy replies, nodding at him, unable to wipe the smile off her face. She releases a heavy breath, ruffling Natsu's bangs slightly.

Natsu sighs, shaking his head with a chuckle. "You're something else," he tells her lowly, voice thick with emotion, "you know that?" He leans in just a tick closer, nose bumping against hers he's so close. Her fingers curl tighter through his belt loop and he breathes against her lips nervously.

Before Lucy can lean up on her toes and kiss him senseless, there's a crashing sound from the doorway, and Lucy jerks back just in time to watch Loke spin around, a hand over his eyes as he walks away from the kitchen, shouting something about how he didn't see anything. Lucy rolls her eyes, releasing Natsu as he shuffles back. Yeah, really convincing Loke, she thinks, snorting.

She sighs, shoulders drooping as another opportunity slips away. Her family has the absolute worst timing. Or maybe the best, depending on whose point of view it is. Regardless, next time she's going to kiss him for sure. Her gaze slides back to Natsu, who's staring down at her curiously. "Go take a shower, flour boy," she jokes, flicking at his bangs and sending a cloud of white into the air. She smirks, looking him up and down. "I'll uh, clean up in here," she tells him, trying to stifle a laugh as egg yolk drips from his hair, splattering across the tile by their feet.

He nods in agreement, shooting a quick glance around the room as he takes another step back, about to run a hand through his hair before thinking better of it and letting his palm slap against his side as he drops his arm. "Do you want help?" he asks, wincing at the absolute mess they made.

Lucy laughs, smiling up at him. "As nice as that sounds," she says sincerely, reaching out and giving his hand a squeeze, "I think we might just make more of a mess," she jokes, dropping his hand just as suddenly as she had taken it.

Natsu scoffs. "You mean _you'll_ make more of a mess," he corrects.

"You participated."

"You _started_ it," he replies, walking backwards out of the kitchen and sending her a wink. She shakes her head, tossing a towel at him just as he ducks out of the room. Lucy giggles, setting to work on cleaning up their mess with a smile.

She's halfway through mopping up a mess off egg on the floor when she hears someone enter the kitchen. Her smiles widens, brows quirking slightly in surprise. She thought it would take Natsu longer to rinse all of that egg out of his hair. It's only been abut ten minutes.

She twirls around, about to make some snippy remark about how he missed a spot when the smile falls right off her face, her back straightening immediately as her grip on the mop handle tightens so much that her knuckles begin to turn a ghostly white.

It's not Natsu she realizes a moment too late, unable to steel her expression in time for her to keep the smile on her face, it's her father.

And he's not happy.

Jude purses his lips, looking around the room, his typically stern expression pulled into a sneer. Lucy turns her back to her father, continuing to clean in silence and hoping he takes the hint and gets the hell away from her. Can't he just wait until tomorrow to be an asshole? Does he really need to start something right now?

Her father doesn't take her silence as a hint that she doesn't want to talk, but suddenly he clears his throat, attempting to gain her attention. "He looks like a hooligan," her father tells her offhandedly, leaning against the wall and standing just outside of the kitchen.

Lucy doesn't need to ask to know who he's talking about.

She clenches her jaw, lips pressing into a thin line as she shakes his head, a bitter smile tugging at her lips. "He's nice," she spits back, not sparing her father a second glance as she continues to clean, determined to make the floor shine by the time she's done with it. There's flour in her hair and chocolate smeared across her face—she must look like an absolute disaster, but frankly she doesn't give a shit. Her father can take his opinion of her and shove it up his ass, for all she cares.

He can say whatever the hell he wants about her, but she won't have him talking bad about Natsu when he hasn't done a damn thing wrong besides not meet her father's standard for appearances.

Jude Heartfilia always has been fickle about the way people look. He thinks piercings and tattoos are crude, a disgusting distortion of the body. Lucy has given up arguing that it's self-expression at this point, not bothering to waste her breath on someone that's never going to listen to a word she says.

Her father sighs, sounding all too disappointed in her. As usual. "Nice won't get you anywhere, Lucy," he tells her callously, and she doesn't have to turn around to know he's frowning at her. He's always frowning at her. She doesn't think she's ever seen him smile once in twenty-two years. Not even back when her mother was still alive.

She has no goddamn idea why someone as _nice_ as her mother would marry someone like her father, and she probably never will. It just doesn't make sense. Not to her anyway. There's something sick about the way her father speaks of niceness, as if just being a decent fucking human being isn't worth nearly as much as being ruthless and cold-hearted to the point where your own daughter can't stand to be around you.

She wonders if her father knows that she wants to hate him for everything he's put her through. She wonders if he knows that he's the reason she sometimes can't sleep at night, or if he knows that he's the reason she sometimes drinks too much and that's an issue. Mostly, she wonders if he knows that she knows that he doesn't love her either.

She's not a human being to him. She's just another piece on his chessboard, there for him to use as he sees fit, and she's absolutely done with that. She thought she made that clear when she left and never looked back, but clearly he hasn't gotten the hint, since he has the audacity to try and give her advice on who she can and can't date.

Lucy lets out a bitter laugh, leaning the mop up against the counter before twisting around to face her father, an edge of steel in her gaze as she locks eyes with him for the first time in nearly a year. She hasn't seen him since last Christmas. She's gotten the letters, the phone calls, the emails—but she hasn't looked at them. She doesn't see the point in listening to his babble about how he knows what's best for her. "Excuse me?" she asks him, tone sharp as she stares him down. Her lips are still twisted up in a smile and she hopes it cuts right through him.

He sighs again, but Lucy just grins as she notches another disappointment into her father's belt. He isn't nearly as disappointed as she is, only Lucy has given up on showing it. She's beyond the point of caring whether or not she's meeting his standards that have been set way too high. "I know it's not what you want to hear," he tells her softly—slowly, as if she can't possibly understand what he's saying unless he's talking down to her. "But you need to know that if you want to have a successful relationship, you need more than nice," he tells her.

Rage prickles at Lucy's skin, her throat tightening in anger as he sends her a sad look. She scoffs, leaning back against the counter, crossing one leg in front of the other and hoping her expressing is as unimpressed as she feels. "And what do I need, Dad?" she asks sarcastically, tone mocking as she calls him "dad." He never has been much of a father to her. She smiles at him sweetly, but it's laced with poison that practically drips from her words. "Someone to keep me under their thumb for the rest of my life?" she questions, glancing down at her fingernails, shrugging slightly. Her gaze rises to meet his once more, her hackles raised and teeth bared in a wolfish grin. "Do I just need to shut up and look pretty for a man that's probably screwing someone else behind my back?" She flutters her eyelashes at him, hoping to get a rise out of him.

Anger she can deal with. She's just so damn sick of feeling sad and worthless whenever he's near her. She wants to scream at her just so she can scream right back. Moreover, she just wishes he wasn't here.

Her father straightens suddenly, his jaw clenched tightly, as well as his fists. Lucy wonders if he wants to hit her, but knows that he wouldn't dare. Not in this house. His eyes narrow, lips pressing into a thin line. She can practically see the smoke coming out his ears. "Watch your mouth, young lady," he snaps, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.

Oh, he's definitely mad. Good, she thinks. Let him be mad. Let him know exactly how she feels whenever he tries to talk to her. She's tired of caring.

Lucy just laughs, pushing off the counter to cross the short distance between them, only stopping when she's right in her father's face, staring up at him but still feeling more in control than she ever has before. "In case you haven't noticed," Lucy says sharply, practically snarling up at him, "I don't want to marry someone like you." He reels back like she's just slapped him and for some reason Lucy feels like crying.

Emotions wells in her throat and she struggles to shove it down, not wanting him to see just how much speaking with him affects her. She's just so damn tired of all of this, but he needs to hear it, and she needs to say it. Maybe after all of this is over they can find some sort of common ground and work things into a sense of normalcy. That's not going to happen if she just keeps her mouth shut.

Jude's jaw clenches even tighter, his eyes narrowing, brows furrowing as his lips twist into a grimace. "You're marrying _him_." He says it more like an accusation than a question, as if it's so scandalizing that she might possibly want to marry a nice guy like Natsu, rather than whatever man her father has picked out for her.

And Lucy almost—almost wants to say yes, just to watch him freak out, but she bites her tongue, more angry than vindictive.

"No," she barks at him, running a frustrated hand through her hair, "no!" She laughs, throwing her head back and cackling, not caring that they're probably drawing the attention of anyone in the other room. "God, do you listen to a word I say, or do you just filter out the things you don't want to hear?" she snarls, crossing her arms over her chest, fingers curling into fists. He just doesn't fucking listen to her.

"Lucy," he sighs again, shaking his head and reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder. She jerks back before he can, knowing that if he touches her, that will be the end of the conversation. He's done that countless times—pat her on the shoulder and then just walk away, ignoring everything she's saying because he wants to be done with the conversation.

Well not this time, she decides. This time, he gets to shut up and listen to her for once in his life.

"No," Lucy repeats. She takes another step back and his eyes widen in surprise, just enough for her to notice. Lucy wets her lips, her throat beginning to close up, her breathing coming in gasps as she stumbles away from him, fighting to keep the tears at bay. She won't cry in front of him. She absolutely _refuses_ to cry in front of him. "I don't care if you don't like him," she tells her father firmly through a clenched jaw, her teeth grinding together slightly. "I really don't." She meets his eyes again, so much anger in them that he takes a step back in shock. "You made my life absolutely miserable for eight years," she spits, letting her arms drop to her sides, palms shaking terribly. " _Eight years!_ " Her voice rises, and this time she knows the others can probably hear her, but none of them come charging in, because they know she needs to say this. "And you're still trying to make me miserable even now." Her voice cracks at the end and Lucy breaks off into a bitter laugh. "You can take your opinion and choke on it," she tells him after several seconds, shaking her head slowly, no longer able to hold her plastic smile, "because I don't care anymore. I really don't."

They stand there in silence after she finishes, Lucy not having anything else to say and her father apparently too stunned to say anything in return. Or maybe he just doesn't care. Lucy doesn't know. She wouldn't be surprised either way.

Her eyes begin to burn from holding back tears and all she wants to do it leave and go upstairs, but she's tired of running away, too.

Suddenly, there are footsteps outside the kitchen, and Lucy figures someone's finally coming to check on them—to make sure she hasn't completely snapped or that Jude hasn't gotten tired of her backtalk. Silence between the Heartfilia's has never been a good sign.

There's a blur of color as Natsu bursts into the kitchen, a smile spread across his face as he slides across the tile floor. "Hey, Lucy," he greets, ignoring her father completely as he takes a step towards her, "do you still need—" He cuts himself off, jaw snapping shut with a click as he takes in her red rimmed eyes and the shine of unshed tears glittering across the surface. Lucy's throat constricts tighter, but she doesn't look away, merely stares back at him with shaking hands and pleading eyes.

In the next second, he whirls on her father, stepping between the two of them without a second thought. Lucy can see the muscles in his arms and back beginning to tighten, his entire body going rigid as he stares down her father, hands clenching into fists at his sides. "What the hell did you do?" Natsu snarls at her father, voice accusing. He takes a threatening step forward.

Jude shakes his head, wetting his lips. "I didn't—"

Lucy cuts him off, placing a hand on Natsu's shaking arm to calm him down. He freezes at the contact, immediately turning to her to make sure she's okay. She smiles up at him as best she can, but it's wobbly, more of a grimace than anything else. "Natsu, don't," she tells him, voice hoarse. She swallows down the lump in her throat, trying hard to steady her breathing. "I'm fine," she chokes out, "I'm—" She cuts off, shaking her head slowly, her grip tightening on his arm. "Can we just go?" she murmurs, sending him a pleading look.

Natsu nods stiffly, taking a step closer to her and wrapping a protective arm around her shoulders, gently tucking her against his side. His thumb brushes against her skin softly, smoothing up and down slowly. Lucy's fingers fist in the hem of his shirt unconsciously and Natsu gives her a quick once-over to make sure she's not hurt, before giving her arm a soft squeeze.

"Lucy—" her father starts to speak as Natsu leads her out of the kitchen, but Lucy flinches suddenly, stopping him completely. Her stares at her with wide eyes, something dawning in them, but Lucy looks away before she can guess what it is.

Natsu just shakes his head, placing himself between Lucy and her father. "Just stay the hell away from her," he says lowly, something sad in his eyes. Jude looks ready to argue, but Natsu turns away, murmuring something low in her ear that she doesn't hear.

The next thing Lucy knows, she's sitting on the counter in the bathroom, Natsu standing between her knees as he uses a washcloth to wipe the egg and other assortment of cooking ingredients off of her face and hair, doing his best to clean her up in her practically catatonic state.

She blinks at him, not sure how long she's been out of it. She doesn't even remember walking up the stairs. She sucks in a shaky breath, gaining his attention as soon as she does. He sends her a small smile, but it doesn't reach his eyes. Lucy sits there silently as his gaze flickers across her face, checking to make sure she's okay, his eyes hardening when he realizes she isn't.

She tries to smile back at him, she really does, but she just can't seem to manage it at the moment. If Natsu minds, he doesn't show it, he just keeps staring at her in concern. Her gaze drops to her hands, limp in her lap, and Natsu sighs, thumb brushing against her cheek gently as he cup her face with one hand. She leans into his touch, lips skimming against his palm in the ghost of a kiss. Natsu leans forward, lips pressing against her temple gently. For a moment, he just rests there, not moving at all. He pulls back a moment later, stepping away from her and holding out a hand for her to take.

She slips down from the counter, head not feeling quite as cloudy anymore, and lets him pull her along with him, leading her to their shared bedroom with slow steps, him walking backwards and whispering to her in a low voice, random nonsense that she can't quite make out.

He shuts the door behind them, flickering the lights off, and Lucy crawls into bed without a second thought, utterly drained from the days events. She glances at the clock, noting that it's only a little passed ten with a frown. She shouldn't be this tired yet.

Natsu crawls in after her, pulling the blanket up around both of them before wrapping his arms around her and tugging her against his chest gently. Lucy curls closer, tangling her legs with his easily and pressing her mouth against his shoulder, eyes squeezing shut tightly. She inhales deeply, the tears finally spilling down her face before soaking into his shirt. She winces, throat tightening once more.

"I told myself I was done letting him make me cry," she murmurs against his arm, voice slightly muffled by his shirt. She laughs bitterly, shaking her head slowly. Damn her father for still making her this upset. And damn her for still getting upset by the same old arguments.

Natsu hushes her gently, sliding an open palm up and down her back slowly, his other hand slipping around her shoulders from underneath her. "Shh," he murmurs, lips brushing against her temple as he curls around her in the darkness. "Lucy, you don't have to talk about it," Natsu tells her softly, burying his nose against her hair.

She shakes her head, fingers coming up to play with collar of his shirt absentmindedly. "I want to," she whispers. And really, she does. For once in her life she actually wants to talk about things. "My mother died when I was ten," she tells him, twisting her fingers in his shirt. "I don't remember her much, honestly, but I wish I did." She sighs, cuddling closer to his chest. His arm tightens around her in return, pulling her flush against him. "My dad changed after that, or maybe he didn't," she murmurs, shaking her head softly. "Maybe I was just naïve to think so." She swallows thickly, tears burning her eyes. "Nothing I do is ever good enough for him," she chokes out, "and I hate how he makes me feel. I don't like who I am when he's around," she admits quietly.

Natsu swallows audibly. "My parents died when I was young," he tells her, though he doesn't sound particularly sad. "I don't remember them at all," he explains, sensing her confusion. "I was adopted by a man named Igneel when I was five…" he trails off briefly. "And I was happy. He was the best parent I could have ever asked for." He's silent for a moment, fingers tracing nonsensical patterns on her back, his voice sounding far away. "He disappeared when I was eighteen. I don't know where he went or if he's okay." He sighs through his nose, sounding incredibly tired all of a sudden. "That's why I put that ad out," he admits. "I hate being alone this time of year."

Lucy reaches out and catches his fingers with hers, shifting closer so she can rest her temple against Natsu's collarbone. His free arm curls around her tighter and Lucy tosses a leg across both of his, wrapping herself around him as best she can to ward off his demons. She doesn't tell him she's sorry, because sorry doesn't fix anything.

Besides, she not sorry that he's here with her.

* * *

 **AN: Reviews are very much appreciated folks! I try my best to get these out everyday, and you're reviews definitely make me work harder ;)**

 **PS: No chapter tomorrow! I'm expecting the next two to be a lot longer than the others, so I need the extra day to work on them! *blows kiss***


	6. Wake Up, Losers, We're Going Ice Skating

**AN: Please be sure to review and let me know what you think!**

 **Deck the Halls, Bitches**

 **Part Six: Wake Up, Losers, We're Going Ice Skating**

* * *

 **Saturday, December 24th**

The clock is ticking towards six in the morning when Lucy finally looks at it. She hadn't wanted to, but after nearly an hour of staring at the wall she figured she might as well see how early she had woken up this time. As usual, the time disappoints her.

Lucy sighs, pillowing her cheek against Natsu's chest with a frown, fingers drumming absentmindedly against his side, her arm tossed across his stomach loosely. Natsu sighs in return, exhaling heavily through his nose as he shifts beneath her. His arm tightens around her, hand settled low on her back pressed against her spine as he holds her to him.

If she were at home, Lucy would get up, clean her apartment or maybe take a walk to the closest coffee shop to work on her latest short story. Be that as it may, Lucy is _not_ at home, and the only place she can go is downstairs. And she really doesn't want to risk running into her father again so soon.

She figures their argument will blow over by the end of the holidays, then he'll be right back to telling her what she can and can't do and she'll be back to ignoring him.

Tangling her legs with Natsu's, Lucy watches as the second hand moves slowly, ticking along leisurely, just loud enough for her to hear it in the stillness. She squeezes her eyes shut, trying to will herself back to sleep, but nothing happens. Nothing ever does. She curls closer to Natsu side, practically lying on top of him at this point, and tries to listen for his heartbeat.

And there it is: loud and fast beneath her ear, keeping pace with the ticking of the clock. It's a strong rhythm, she decides, feeling his pulse jump beneath her fingers as they skim the inside of his wrist. A hell of a lot stronger than hers, anyway. She's always had a pulse that's hard to find. Sometimes it takes her friends _minutes_ to find it.

There was one time where she passed out on the bathroom floor after a night of drinking and for the life of him, Gajeel had been unable to find her pulse. He had panicked, of course, and she had woken with him half-way to calling an ambulance. That hadn't been a fun experience.

Lucy exhales slowly, eyes opening once more. She blinks at the clock, the minute hand barely moving from the last time she checked. She wills time to speed up, to tick by just a little bit faster so that she doesn't have to lie here any longer.

She could just get up, she reasons with herself. She could just leave and head downstairs, facing the inevitable. No matter how long she prolongs another confrontation with her father, it's only a matter of time before it happens again. She might as well just get it over with now, apologize to him like she does every single time and go back to pretending everything is fine until the next time they fight. Just like ripping off a band-aid, she thinks, smiling sardonically.

As if mocking her, the clock stops ticking all together, it's batteries dying without warning. The second hand freezes in place, the minute hand stopping just before the hour mark, coming to rest at fifty-nine minutes with nothing but a final tick. Lucy could laugh, watching as the hands still just moments away from six o'clock.

And she does, giggling softly and burying her face against Natsu's chest, trying to muffle the bitter sound. Her laughter burns out just as quickly as it comes, a pensive expression crossing her face as she stares at the broken clock, lips twisted into a frown as her eyes narrow slowly

Clocks are a bit like heartbeats, she thinks. One moment they're ticking away, steady and loud, ever present in a room, but only noticeable if someone really listens. Then, they just stop. Sometimes with no warning at all.

That's what happened to her mother. One minute she was fine, then she just collapsed. No warning. The hands just stopped ticking away, even if time itself never stopped.

The difference, she muses, between heartbeats and clocks, is simple. Heartbeats don't get new batteries.

Lucy shakes her head, hoping to shake away the thoughts as well. She's oddly insightful in the early morning hours, but frankly, she would rather be asleep than waxing poetic to herself. Besides, she never has been much of a poetry fan. There's too many rules and restrictions—sonnets are pretty, but so are birdcages and house fires. Pretty doesn't really mean much if it's meant to suffocate creativity.

Huffing, Lucy shifts so that she can unwrap herself from Natsu's arms, untangling their legs slowly hoping not to wake him. She runs a hand down the side of her face slowly, shaking her head and wrinkling her nose, before running her hand through her messy hair, likely only making a bigger mess out of the blonde strands.

She squirms, struggling to prop herself up on her arms, hoping to slip out of the bed as silently as possible. Her lips press into a thin line as she shuffles away from his side, rolling onto her stomach as best she can before sitting up slowly, kneeling on the side of the bed closest to the wall. Lucy blows hair out of her face, lips pulling into a small, satisfied smile at her success. Though, that was probably the easy part, she thinks, stifling a groan. She's sliding over Natsu, straddling him with one knee on either side of his hips when he wakes up suddenly, blinking up at her sleepily.

Natsu's lips twist into a frown as he squints at her, gaze slipping from her face down to her torso, hovering just above his. He quirks a brow briefly, before sighing and closing his eyes, a hand rubbing across his jaw tiredly. His other hand slips around her back, holding her in place. "What time is it?" he slurs, eyes slipping open once more as he yawns, hand squeezing her hip.

Lucy freezes for a moment, feeling awkward about being caught hovering over him like this, but relaxes a moment later, lowering herself to rest on his stomach. Natsu's fingers begin to move, tracing nonsensical patterns against her lower spine, drawing a shiver from his companion. The blanket slips off of the two of them, pooling around Natsu's waist. Lucy hesitates momentarily, not sure where to place her hands. She settles with keeping them on the bed on either side of his rib cage, figuring that placing them on his shoulders might be a little much. "About six," she replies softly, offhandedly noticing that her mouth is dry. She shrugs, shifting against his stomach slightly.

Natsu groans, sitting up slightly on one elbow, holding her firmly in place with the hand on her back. He sends her a tired look, glancing briefly at the clock with a wince. His gaze shifts back to her lazily, his chest grazing hers slightly as he shifts upwards. "What is with you and waking up early?" he asks, shaking his head slowly. He's smiling though, lips twitching up at the edges, and there's a hint of mirth in his voice.

Lucy just shrugs, leaning back and placing her weight on her knees, sitting up straight rather than leaning over him. "I don't sleep much," she admits, dropping her gaze to his chest and biting her lower lip, chewing it slightly. It's a bad habit, she knows, but she can't help it. She drops her hands in front of her, placing them on his stomach gently and deciding to hell with it. They just cuddled all night, there's really no shame in prolonging the contact while they're awake. Besides, they've had their hands all over each other for the past two days, at this point it doesn't make much of a difference.

Natsu sits up as well, shifting slowly so he doesn't knock her off of his lap. "Because of your dad?" he asks softly, voice dropping into nothing more than a low whisper, anger clear in his voice. She almost doesn't hear it. Almost.

She wets her lips, avoiding his gaze, only raising her eyes as far as his lips. "Yeah," she says simply, shrugging halfheartedly, unsure what else to say. "Sometimes," she tacks on. There are other things that keep her awake at night, but she's not sure if she wants to share those things with him yet. He has his own problems to worry about. Lucy purses her lips, throat tightening as his hand sweeps up her spine, drawing her closer to his chest.

Her eyes snap up to meet his, watching in apt fascination as the low lighting of the room makes his eyes appear darker than usual—angrier, even. Natsu's other arm curls around her hips, fingers drumming against her side gently, impatiently. "What did he say to you last night?" he murmurs, the words nothing but a low growl from somewhere deep in his chest.

A shudder runs up her spine, her legs tightening on either side of his hips. Lucy swallows thickly, releasing a shaky breath against his throat. Natsu shudders right back as her warm breath tickles his skin, contrasting greatly with the chilly room. Lucy goes back to biting her lip, plucking at a stray string on the hem of his shirt with determination, her eyes still locked on Natsu's neck. Slowly, her gaze slips to his jaw. Her free hand follows, thumb brushing against his stubble gently, much like she had that first night. Natsu's breathing pauses for a second, but she pays no mind to it.

She figured he hadn't heard them last night, judging by his shock at the situation, but she honestly never thought he would actually ask what started the fight. No one ever does anymore. Mostly because it's always the same situation. Lucy talks too much. Jude doesn't listen to her. He doesn't like her friends and the clothes she wears. He has a stick up his ass and needs to butt out of her life and stop trying to control her.

Natsu, of course, wouldn't know this though.

"He insulted you," she says simply, shrugging as her fingers run along his jaw line. She still won't meet his eyes, and, as such, she misses the way his eyes widen in shock, the breath leaving his lungs in a rush as he peers down at her. Lucy shifts again, gaze dropping back to his throat just in time to see him swallow thickly, his Adam's apple bobbing just the slightest.

His grip on her hip tightens just the slightest, fingers curling tighter around the bone. He wets his lips, exhaling shakily, his breath shifting her bangs slightly. "Me?" he breathes against her, voice unsteady as he looks down at her with wide eyes.

Lucy finally glances up at the confusion in his tone, her head cocking to the side curiously as she stares up at him, blinking slowly. Her lips twist into a smile, a small giggle leaving her throat at his bewilderment. "Yeah, you," she tells him, grinning just the slightest. It's really nothing to laugh about, but she finds it amusing how he's the only one in this house that doesn't know that she would start a shouting match with her father over his good name.

He deserves better than her father's bigoted opinion.

Natsu snorts, smiling back at her softly. "You picked an argument with your father over me?" he clarifies, shaking his head slowly as he stares down at her, dragging her closer to him with the hand on her back. He looks at her closely, wonder in his eyes with something like disbelief burning underneath.

Her smile widens at the look on his face, but he's only half-right and she won't let him blame himself for what happened last night, because she can see that in his eyes as well—doubt and anger directed at himself. She's seen that same look in her own eyes countless times. He doesn't deserve that. "I picked an argument with my father because he acts like I can't think for myself," she corrects him sharply, though not unkindly. Her hand slipping over his stomach, fingers trailing across his chest as it rises to meet her other one. She cups his face with both hands, forcing him to look directly as her and see the utmost sincerity in her eyes. "You were just the excuse for him to pick at my life," she adds gently, thumbs brushing against his cheeks.

Natsu's gaze traces her face for a long moment, as if he's trying to memorize every detail in the low light. His smile is softer than she's ever seen it, lips parted just the slightest as his breath ghosts over her lips. "Do you want me to propose to you to piss him off?" he asks suddenly, leaning in just a bit closer. Lucy snorts, lips pressing together tightly as she tries to stifle her laughter. It doesn't work. Her grin widens and suddenly she can't help the giggles spilling out of her. "I'm serious, Lucy!" he explains, smiling as well.

She just shakes her head, arms looping around his neck to pull him into a quick embrace. She presses her mouth against his shoulder, trying her hardest to muffle her laughter, hoping she doesn't accidentally wake up Loke in the next room. That would certainly be hard to explain. "No," she tells him, arms loosening around him as she leans back. "That's okay, maybe next time," she tacks on.

Lucy freezes suddenly, eyes widening as she realizes what she's just said.

Natsu inhales sharply, eyes widening as well. He swallows, gaze locked with hers. "Next time?" he asks, uncertainty in his voice. His hands fall to her hips, squeezing gently.

"I—" Lucy's mouth closes with a click. "We should get up," she says suddenly, glancing at the broken clock.

Natsu shakes his head, grip tightening just the slightest. "Next time?" he repeats, softly this time, something in his eyes that Lucy can't quite decipher.

She rips her gaze away from his, embarrassed. "Can we talk about this later?" she asks, swallowing down the lump in her throat. He nods slowly and she slides off of him, hesitating briefly before catching his hand in hers. He blinks at her in surprise, but she simply laces her fingers through his, giving his a gentle tug as she takes a step back.

He follows, rolling out of the bed and landing on his feet softly, feet bare against the wood floor. Lucy walks backwards several steps, leading him towards the door before turning around, hand never leaving his as she throws the door open and heads for the stairs.

They don't say another word as they walk towards the lower level, Lucy's grip tightening on him just the slightest, making sure he doesn't fall behind

By the time they make it to the kitchen the awkwardness is nearly gone.

Surprisingly, they're not the first one's awake.

Lucy blinks in surprise as she sees Makarov and Ida sitting at the breakfast nook, idly chatting as they drink coffee, Laxus leaning against the center island with his own mug, shirtless and looking like he hasn't slept a wink all night. Lucy figures that he might not have, given that he's been squeezing into a double bed with three other people for the past few nights.

The three look up as Natsu and Lucy stroll into the kitchen. Ida and Makarov both wave casually in greeting, murmuring quiet "hello's" under their breathes and looking far more awake than Lucy feels. Laxus barely spares them a glance, grunting slightly before going back to guzzling his coffee like it's the only thing keeping him alive.

Lucy snorts at her cousin. If he keeps drinking coffee like that, it'll replace his blood. Not to mention he'll be ridiculously wired all day and they really don't need a repeat of what happened during Laxus's final year of college during finals time. That had been an absolute nightmare.

Laxus had sworn off coffee after that, not being able to even look at coffee any darker than a pale beige. Apparently, he's back at it though. Kids will do that, she supposes.

"Good morning," she greets pleasantly, releasing Natsu's hand and hoping up onto the center island beside Laxus, ignoring his mumbling as he tells her to get off the counter. Lucy snorts, rolling her eyes at his protests, and Laxus shoots her a sour look. Lucy looks back at Natsu, gesturing him forward with a wave of her hand.

He follows her slowly, quirking a brow as she reaches out for him, but, finally realizing what she wants, smiles and steps up between her legs, his arms coiling around her waist as she lazily wraps hers around his shoulders, propping her chin up against his shoulder. Natsu chuckles as she curls herself around him like a vice, her legs swinging back and forth wildly.

Neither of them notice the look that Makarov and Ida share, twin smiles on their faces.

"What are you two doing up so early?" Laxus asks them, raising a brow curiously at the pair. Apparently, he's dropped the overprotective brother act, which is good, in her opinion. That means he actually _likes_ Natsu. She hides a smile against his shoulder, though she knows he can feel it, judging back the way his arms tighten around her for the briefest moment.

Lucy just shrugs as best she can in her current positing, tilting her head against Natsu's shoulder in order to face her cousin fully. "Couldn't sleep," she tells him simply, lips twisting into a tight smile. Laxus's gaze softens and he nods knowingly.

Laxus's relationship with his father is on par with Lucy's own parental relationship. The two are hardly even in the same place, and when they are the results can be catastrophic. Ivan wasn't invited to Laxus and Mira's wedding, he didn't find out that they were even married until nearly a year later, when the twins were born. Lucy's pretty sure Laxus doesn't let his father anywhere near his children, at least, not when he isn't around.

Though he's never told her directly, Lucy is almost certain that Ivan used to beat Laxus around when he was younger. That's why he practically lived with their grandfather all throughout middle and high school.

They don't talk about that, though.

Laxus's gaze shifts to Natsu, who shrugs as well. "She woke me up," he tells the other man, sighing tiredly and tilting his head against hers. His fingers go back to tracing shapes on her back, mostly circles, but sometimes loops and curves that she thinks might be words, but she can't make them out.

Lucy rolls her eyes, snorting. "You could have stayed in bed," she reminds him, knocking her heel against his knee gently—playfully. He reaches down with one hand, pinching her bare thigh gently, making her yelp in surprise. His hand goes back to her waist a moment later, a smile spreading across his face.

"Yeah," he agrees, scoffing slightly and rolling his eyes, "but I would have been cold." He huffs like it's obvious why he needed to get up. Lucy just shakes her head, tapping him with her toes as a smile spreads across her face.

Lucy glances between Laxus and her grandparents. "What about you three?" she asks after a beat, gaze growing curious as she watches Ida and Makarov look up from a book laid out between them. She quirks a brow, but it's Laxus who answers.

Her older cousin just shrugs, sighing and draining his coffee mug. "Mira kicks in her sleep sometimes," he mumbles, half-twisting around to grab the coffee pot him. He pours himself another mug, peering at Natsu and Lucy questioningly. Lucy wrinkles her nose at the coffee, shaking her head, but Natsu nods. Laxus sends Natsu what Lucy thinks might be a grin and grabs another mug from the wrack, pouring him one as well. "Plus the bed is a bit crowded at the moment," Laxus continues, handing Natsu a brightly colored, Alice in Wonderland themed mug.

Lucy smiles. Makarov always has had a weird thing for themed mugs. That's what they always get him from holidays. Then again, maybe he doesn't like them and just collects them so he doesn't hurt their feelings.

Lucy blinks.

 _Well._

Natsu grins at Laxus, peering at him over Lucy's shoulder. "What?" he asks, a hint of amusement in his voice. "You don't usually have two toddlers in your bed?" he jokes, earning an eye-roll from Laxus. Her cousin's grin only widens though, showing his amusement at the comment.

Lucy hides another smile against his shoulder. Oh yeah, Natsu is definitely a Dreyar charmer. Which is a talent that very few possess. There's just something about him that's hard not to like.

"Only when they have nightmares," Laxus tells him, smiling fondly as he thinks about his kids. "You know, monsters in their closets and all," he jokes back, staring down at his coffee mug, bare feet tapping against the tile floor.

Sometimes there really are monsters in the closets, Lucy thinks, nearly saying it aloud before catching herself and biting her tongue. That's not really appropriate for early morning conversations. Especially not with Natsu in the room. Laxus's secrets are his alone and Lucy doesn't want to bring up her own monsters anymore today.

Natsu hums in thought, the sound vibrating through Lucy. "Which is what?" he asks, cheek pressed against Lucy's hair. His fingers drum against her spine slowly, making her shiver with every tap against her clothed back. "Most nights?" Natsu questions, sounding genuinely curious this time. Concerned, almost.

Apparently, he already completely adores the twins, despite only spending a few hours with them the day before. Then again, it only took her a week to get this close to him, and she has a lot more baggage than the twins do. Besides, the feeling seems to be mutual, considering that Vasilisa and Yuri seem rather taken with Lucy's date.

Laxus shakes his head. "Less than you might think," he tells the other man, pointing at him with his mug.

Natsu grins, raising his own mug to his lips as Lucy turns to stare at her grandparents in wonder, blinking at them curiously Why are they awake, exactly? Wouldn't they rather be asleep than down here?

She says, the pot calling the kettle black.

Ida smiles and Lucy realizes they're flipping through an old photo album of Makarov's. Lucy squints down at the page, but can't make out the pictures, only noting that they're clearly old, all done in black and white, some faded and torn around the edges. Makarov grins as well, eyes sparkling with mischief as he looks at Lucy. "We don't need as much sleep as you young ones," he tells them, a hint of laughter in his voice.

Lucy snickers, turning back to her cousin slowly. "So where are the twins?" she asks, letting Makarov and Ida go back to their photos in peace. Maybe someday Lucy will understand their love for old photos, but that day is not today. She doesn't like thinking about the past, besides, he best years are still to come. "They can't possibly still be asleep," she jokes, remembering how the twins we awake so early the morning before.

She only wishes she had that kind of energy. All Lucy ever wants to do is sleep and browse the internet. And eat. Eating is very important to her as well.

Laxus just shrugs, casting a glance around the room and avoiding Lucy's gaze. He takes another drink, then wets his lips, frowning down at his mug. "Around," he says casually, trying not to look at her. He glances down at her nails, suddenly finding them very interesting.

Natsu snorts, shaking his head slowly as he looks up at Laxus, one brow raised curiously. "Aren't you supposed to be watching your kids?" he asks slyly, hiding a smile behind his coffee mug. Lucy just rolls her eyes, turning slightly to bury her face against Natsu's neck, pressing her cold nose against his skin. He jerks away from the sudden chill, but rolls his eyes and lets her cuddle closer when she lets out a soft whine.

Laxus does something with his arms, but Lucy doesn't see what, too content with her position to look at whatever the hell Laxus is doing. "Probably," he tells them, snorting softly, "but they're six, what can they do?" he asks, taking another sip of coffee.

"One time they tried to stick a fork in an outlet," Lucy informs him, voice slightly muffled by Natsu's neck. The man in question squirms slightly as her lips brush against a sensitive spot on his neck. Lucy grins, intent on remembering that spot for later use.

That had been the most terrifying day of Lucy's short life. She left the room for all of two seconds and came back to the kids trying to shove silverware in a light socket for shits and giggles. Lucy had about pissed herself and ended up calling Cana and Gajeel for backup because she was not going to let her niece and nephew die on her watch.

Mira would kill her.

"That'll teach 'em," Laxus says.

Lucy rolls her eyes, shifting her position so she can send Laxus the dirties look she can manage. "You're a terrible parent," she tells him, but her tone is mostly joking. She knows that Laxus would do anything for his kids, even if he pretends to be indifferent at times.

Laxus points a finger in her direction. "No," he corrects her, staring down at her. "My dad was a terrible parent," he quips, taking another sip of coffee. " _Your_ dad was a terrible parent." Lucy cringes slightly, pulling a face, and Laxus's expression softens slightly. "I've just given up on being in a constant state of panic," he informs her, reaching out to pat her on the head gently.

She huffs, arms tightening around Natsu's shoulders just the slightest. His leans into her, pressing himself flush against her. "Why's that?" Lucy asks curiously, cocking her head to the side and pursing her lips.

Laxus shuffles in place, clearing his throat awkwardly. Her cousin runs a hand through his messy hair, cringing as he does. He peeks at Lucy out of the corner of his eyes, cheeks reddening just the slightest bit, gaining Lucy attention even more. "It was giving me grey hairs," Laxus grumbles, rubbing the back of his neck and avoiding her eyes.

Lucy gasps, eyes lighting up as a grin makes its way across her face. "No way," she says, practically scandalized. "Let me see!" she demands, reaching out for his head, fingers wiggling jokingly.

"No!" Laxus snaps back, swatting at her hand as Natsu chuckles, Ida and Makarov sharing an amused smile from where they're seated. "Dammit, Lucy," Laxus hisses lowly, shifting to avoid his cousin's grabby hands.

She just grins back. "You love me," she coos, batting her eyelashes at her older cousin, who sends her a sour look in response. It doesn't reach his eyes though.

He snorts, letting his expression slip into one of fondness a moment later. "You're lucky I do," he tells her, reaching out to slick her nose. She yelps, much to the amusement of the others in the room, and hides herself against Natsu's neck once more.

Natsu smooths a hand up and down her back, chuckling at her reaction before leaning his head down against hers, an equally fond smile on his own lips as he peeks down at her.

It's quiet for a moment, each of them doing their own thing for the time being. It's nice, Lucy decides, the silence. It's comfortable—easy. There's nothing awkward about it like one might think. That's one thing she likes about her family. They're loud and a little crazy, but they don't need to be like that all the time. They're good when it comes to the quiet.

Lucy sighs, dozing off just the slightest as she curls up against Natsu's chest, fingers tugging at his shirt absentmindedly as she struggles to keep herself awake. She's more tired than she expected, but there's really only so long she can go without a decent nights sleep. Lucy wrinkles her nose. She might have to go back to the sleeping pills. She doesn't want to go back to the sleeping pills. They mess with her head and she doesn't like the way they make her feel.

Before Lucy can fall asleep on Natsu's shoulder, Ida speaks up, waking her. "So you argued with Judy last night," she hums. Lucy knows it's not a question, just a fact. A sad, sad fact. She's not sure why Ida's bringing it up now, but she won't ask. Usually, he grandmother asks these things for a reason.

Other times, for no reason at all.

"You heard that?" she asks lightly, trying to play it off as nothing. As if her and her father shouting at each other could ever be just nothing. Though, this time Lucy did most of the shouting, rather than the other way around. Which is a good thing, Lucy muses. She feels lighter now than she has for a while.

"Everyone heard you, Babe," a new voice speaks up from the archway, a teasing lilt to their voice. "We were all here." She glances up slowly, catching Loke's eye as he leads Aries into the kitchen by the hand, his expression a lot less teasing than is words. Aries sends her a small wave, yawning and running a hand through her hair as Loke walks over to the breakfast nook, sliding in on the other side of Makarov and Ida. Aries slips in after him.

Lucy grins back at him sarcastically, not bothering to ask why the pair is awake so damn early. It's just a regular Dreyar family reunion in the kitchen, apparently. "Awesome," Lucy hisses, venom dripping from her mock cheerful tone. "I love airing my dirty laundry for everyone to hear!" she tells them sarcastically, rolling her eyes before sighing and plopping her forehead down on Natsu's shoulder.

He rubs her back slowly, turning to place a quick kiss against her forehead before tucking her under his chin gently, cheek pressed against the top of her head. Natsu exchanges a look with Laxus over her head, lips pressed into a thin line.

Laxus reaches out slowly—tentatively—placing a hand against her shoulder before patting her back gently. He clears his throat, and though she can't see it, she knows he's sending her a small smile. "It's nothing we haven't heard before," he reminds her gently, letting her know there's no shame in what happened last night. Laxus has had bigger blowouts with his father before, sometimes when other people were in the room. Lucy has nothing to be embarrassed about.

"Yeah," Loke chirps from the breakfast nook, his face breaking into a wide smile that doesn't quite meet his eyes. He catches Aries hand under the table, squeezing softly. Loke swallows thickly. "And you schooled him," he tells his cousin, grinning at her when she peeks up at him from Natsu's shoulder. Loke gains a grin back in response and he sighs in relief.

Laxus leans back against the counter, a pensive expression on his face as he sets his now empty coffee mug against the counter. He clears his throat, gaining Lucy's attention once more. She blinks up at him, head cocking to the side curiously. He just stares for a second and Lucy lifts her head from Natsu's shoulder, pulling back slightly to face Laxus directly. Natsu leans back just the slightest, keeping a firm hand on her back as he raises his mug to his lips, glancing between the cousins.

"Who do you think is more sexist?" Laxus asks suddenly, raising a brow at Lucy, a smirk on his lips. "My dad or your dad?" Loke snorts, shaking his head at Laxus's question, glad he isn't being included in this one, most likely. Lucy sort of wishes this wasn't a question Laxus actually had to ask. Or that she would actually have to _think_ about it, which is just a little bit sad.

Natsu nearly chokes on his coffee, coughing slightly when he hears Laxus's question. He tries not to laugh, hiding a smile behind his mug.

Lucy bites her lower lip, brows furrowing in thought as she thinks it over. She could just say both an be done with it, but that would be too easy. Ivan is crass when it comes to women. He's openly disrespectful and regularly talks down to Lucy, though, he does seem to respect his wife in some sense. Her father just shows little regard for women overall, thinking all they're good for is a pretty face and child rearing. "My dad," she decides after several seconds. "Yours is just more vocal about it," she tells him, shrugging slightly.

She's a bit concerned that this is just a casual conversation they're having, but she digresses. At least they can make light of a bad situation.

"That is true," Laxus agrees, sighing as well and nodding slowly.

Natsu shuffles awkwardly on his feet as silence surrounds them once more. It's not quite as comforting this time, what with the heavy conversation that seems to have fallen over them in a great wave. She still doesn't understand why Ida brought up the question, but she won't ask. Lucy does need to talk about it, even if she doesn't want to admit so out loud. Talking about it makes her feel better.

Natsu clears his throat, turning to look at Makarov with a bemused expression, his lip twisted down in a thoughtful frown. "Out of curiosity," he starts slowly, wetting his lips, "how it everyone able to sleep in this house?" he asks curiously, quirking a brow at her grandfather.

Lucy smiles, shaking her head softly.

Trust Natsu to ask the strangest question. It's obviously just to direct the conversation _somewhere_ , but she's grateful for it.

It's Laxus that answers, however, not Makarov. "Well," her oldest cousin says slowly, leaning back against the counter and stretching his arms over his head so that his shoulders pop. "There's four bedrooms," he tells Natsu, cracking his neck. "Makarov has his and Mira and I have one with the kids—"

Loke cuts him off before he can continue. "Aries and I have one!" he chirps, slapping his hands down on the table and grinning at his fiancée. He glances and Natsu and Lucy a moment later. "And, of course, there's you two," he continues gesturing to the other couple apathetically, shrugging slightly.

Laxus rolls his eyes, shooting Loke a sour look at his interruption. "Lisanna and Bixlow are on one of the pull out couches downstairs," he tells them through clenched teeth, clearly none too pleased about being cut off by his cousin. "And I think Elfman and Evergreen took the other," he finishes, also shrugging.

They seem to do that a lot.

It must be a Dreyar thing.

Ida glances up from the photo album. "Your father slept on the couch last night," she tells Lucy, pursing her lips. "But he's not there now." Lucy raises a brow in question, but Ida doesn't elaborate right away, merely flipping another page and staring down at the pictures with a critical eye. "He left early this morning, around four. "Heaven knows where," she adds, glancing at her granddaughter briefly.

Loke leans forward, smiling at Ida across the table, batting his eyelashes. "And where did you sleep, Gorgeous?" he asks. Lucy isn't sure whether on not he's joking and merely shakes her head.

Ida and Makarov exchange a glance before she turns back to Loke, winking.

The younger ones all cringe. "Oh, eww," Lucy murmurs, shuddering at the thought. "Seriously?" she asks them, hoping it's just a joke. She really didn't need that mental image. Like, at all. Screw you Loke, you dick.

Makarov laughs. "Nothing happened," he promises. His smile turns a bit wicked. " _Much._ "

Loke blanches, the smile slipping right off his lips as Makarov smiles. He looks like he regrets ever asking, his face turning a bit green as he glances between the two. Aries laughs at Loke's reaction, patting him on the back gently and murmuring something Lucy can't hear. Laxus looks equally ill as he stares at his grandfather, looking halfway to stabbing himself in the leg with a spoon. Lucy really wouldn't blame him.

If Lucy looked up the definition of "TMI" she thinks this conversation would be it, because she really didn't need to know that.

She's never going to be able to look at them the same way ever again. Dammit.

Lucy sighs through her nose, eyes squeezing shut tightly as she shakes her head, dropping back onto Natsu's shoulder with a huff. Yeah, she should have just stayed in bed this morning. Staring at the wall was way better than this conversation.

"So," Loke starts awkwardly, playing with Aries fingers and avoiding eye-contact with the pair across from him. Lucy snorts at his awkwardness, trying not to laugh as he pretends they aren't there. She glances up, sharing an amused look with Natsu, who hasn't been able to wipe the smile off his face. Loke sends them a dirty look as they snicker, before turning back to Makarov and Ida with an obviously fake smile. "What's on the agenda for the day?" he asks, clearly trying to change the subject.

Makarov's eyes narrow just the slightest, as if he wants to continue to tease Loke. He shakes his head, apparently dismissing the thought as he turns back to his photo album. "Four o'clock we decorate the tree," he tells all of them, reciting their typical Christmas Eve schedule from memory. "At six we eat."

It was a dumb question, Lucy decides, considering they do the exact same thing every year, but it's a hell of a lot better than trying to wrap her head around Makarov and Ida's odd relationship. She's not sure if they're just joking around or not, and really doesn't want to find out. "So, basically nothing for the next ten hours?" she asks, untangling herself from Natsu and leaning back on her hands, sending him a small smile when he catches her eye.

"Yes," Makarov answers simply, not looking up at her.

Lucy snorts, catching Natsu's and in both of hers and playing with his fingers, thumb brushing against the tattoo on his wrist briefly. He quirks a brow at her, but she just smiles again, less enthusiastically than before. "Great!" she says, fake cheer coating her voice. "I guess I just get to wait around for my dad to get back and yell at me," she jokes, rolling her eyes slightly as she mentions her father.

Natsu squeezes her fingers gently, sending her a small, encouraging smile before lifting his coffee mug back to his lips. She wrinkles her nose, not sure how he's able to drink coffee at all—much less _black_. Laxus, she can understand. He's kind of a bitter old man sometimes, but Natsu? He needs to sweeten it up a little bit.

"You do realize we could go outside?" Loke asks her slowly, turning to face her, legs crossed beneath him. He raises a brow, sending her an odd look.

He's right, of course, but it's cold outside and Lucy would much rather stay inside where it's warm. Maybe take a nap later and try to forget last night ever happened. Then again, the park was nice yesterday. It was quiet, no one was around, her father wasn't there. Hell, her father probably doesn't know where the park is. Plus, it would be a lot easier to hide in the woods than in this house. More places to hide outside.

Her eyes light up, a smile creeping onto her face. Despite her agreement with her older cousin, Lucy does have to pretend to put up more of a fight, if only because it annoys Loke to no end. An annoyed Loke is her favorite Loke. He always acts like it's the worst possible thing. "But we did that _yesterday_ ," she tells him, bobbing her head at Natsu and blinking at her cousin innocently.

Beside her, Laxus snorts, easily seeing through her ruse. Loke, despite his name, has never been quite as good at deciphering her real complaints from the ones meant to annoy him. Trickster God indeed, she thinks sarcastically, trying to stifle a smile.

Then again, Loke did manage to convince Cana that he had a twin brother named Leo. That went on for nearly two years, but she thinks that says more about Cana's gullibility than Loke's abilities as a trickster. All he did was change the part of his hair, wear an old pair of glasses, and speak in a slightly higher voice.

Wait, did they ever tell Cana that it was a joke? _Shit_.

Loke rolls his eyes, a slight frown tugging at his lips as he takes the bait. "Well," he drawls sarcastically, crossing his arms over his chest with a huff. Lucy looks away, hiding her grin. Loke is so easy. "You know, Lucy," he continues, pursing his lips and shaking his head, "you _can_ go outside multiple times a week." He drags out his brief response to her complaint, hoping it will satisfy her enough for her to just go with it, but Lucy merely smiles back.

If Loke thought it would be that easy, he's got another thing coming.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Laxus reaching for the coffee pot once more, probably about to pour himself his third or fourth mug of the day. She slaps his hand away, shooting him a quick glare. He really doesn't need anymore coffee. If hasn't kicked in quite yet, oh, but it will. And it'll be bad.

It'll be like finals week all over again.

Lucy scoffs, crossing her own arms as she stares at Loke, legs swinging back and forth absentmindedly. Natsu sets down his coffee mug, obviously catching onto what she's doing, and shakes his head, turning away to hide his smile from Loke. Her date shares a brief look with Laxus, both of them shaking their heads softly. Lucy ignores them. "But it's cold," she tells Loke. Though, that may just be her, considering she's not exactly dressed for the weather. That's not her fault though. She can't help that she gets way too hot at night. If she wore actual pants to bed, she would probably die from the heat.

If that what Loke wants? Lucy to die in her sleep from heat exhaustion?

"I'm sure your boyfriend will take care of that," Loke tells her, sighing and glancing between the other couple. Beside him, Aries giggles, looping her arm through her fiancé's with a smile.

Lucy grins, getting him right where she wants him. "Fine," she sighs dramatically, relenting as she remembers what she saw yesterday at the park. Hers lips curve into a devious smile. Loke immediately freezes when he sees it, eyes widening slightly, but it's too late for that. There are no take backs in this family. "But we're going ice skating," Lucy tells him, singing slightly.

Beside her, Laxus snorts.

Loke blanches, lips curving down in a frown. He glances at Aries nervously, sighing in defeat when he sees the excitement on her face. "The pond in the park?" he asks slowly, eyeing her wearily.

There are only two places to ice skate in the nearest twenty miles. The ice rink in town, where it's sure to be crowded today as people look for something to do, and the little pond in Magnolia Park. It's not as safe as the ice rink, but it's certainly more private.

Lucy just shrugs in response. "Unless you would rather pay money to fall on your ass in public," she quips at Loke, wiggling towards the edge of the counter slowly. Natsu catches what she's doing and places his hands on her hips, helping her slide down from the counter silently. She grins up at him in thanks, before turning back to Loke a moment later.

Her cousin sends her a sour look, his eyes narrowing as he pouts at her. "Shut up," he mumbles, sliding out of the nook with Aries and refusing to meet her eyes. Loke always has been sensitive at his inability to ice skate. It's a rather sore subject for him

"It's okay," Lucy coos, smiling up at Loke as he and Aries walk up to her and Natsu. The later sends Lucy a smile, but Loke just glares down at her, hands on his hips. "I'm sure Aries will hold your hand, right?" she asks the soon to be member of the Dreyar family, ducking behind Natsu when Loke swats at her.

Aries giggles, slipping an arm around Loke to keep him from lunging at his cousin once more. "Of course!" she chirps in response, batting her eyelashes at Loke, who coughs and turns away, looking rather red in the face. "I always will," she murmurs, leaning up to press a kiss against Loke's cheek.

"Are the other Heartfilias coming?" Loke asks suddenly, not looking any of them in the eyes. Loke always has been a huge sap. In high school he tried to act like the cool guy, a different girl on his arm every week, but in reality, he cries watching _The Lion King_ and turns into a pile of mush whenever Aries so much as looks at him. It's rather adorable, actually.

Ida shakes her head, her eyes narrowing just the slightest, lips pressing into a thin line. "Nope," she answers simply, mumbling something in German under her breath, which Lucy thinks might be a swear word. She's not as well versed in Germanic swears as she is in Russia. Mostly because Ida didn't sit her down and teach them to her ala Makarov style.

Lucy sighs in relief, eyes slipping shut as she learns that the other side of her family won't be joining them tonight. She considers asking why, but decides against it, not really wanting to know. "Oh, thank the Lord!" Lucy says, throwing her hands in the air in absolute joy. "No offense, Grandma."

Ida shrugs. "None taken."

Lucy whirls around, staring up at Laxus with a grin. He blinks back at her, a weary expression on his face. His foot begins to tap against the tiles, a clear sign that the coffee is kicking in. He's sure to become squirrely later if he doesn't get out and do something. "Well," she tells him, clasping her hands behind her back, "we'll go wake up the others in the basement." She quirks a brow at him. "Are you going to get Mira?" she asks.

Laxus shrugs. "Sure, but she might kill me for waking her up," he tells her casually, glancing up at the clock. Lucy follows his gaze, eyes widening when she realizes it's nearly seven-thirty.

She shrugs, glancing back at Laxus. "I'm willing to risk it," she says simply, before spinning around and walking over to her grandparents. "Are you two coming?" she asks gently, glancing between the two of them curiously.

Ida simply shakes her head, smiling at Lucy gently. She pats Makarov's hand gently, gesturing to the photo album with a flick of her wrist. "No," she tells Lucy gently, reaching out to pat her on the cheek briefly. "We'll wait here for when Judy comes back," she tells the girl, a strange twinkle in her eyes.

Lucy smiles in response, leaning down to kiss her grandmother on the cheek, giving her a quick hug before smiling at Makarov. He grins back, gesturing for her to go with a wave of his hand. Lucy murmurs a quick goodbye before turning away from the nook. Natsu smiles down at her, catching her hand in his, giving her a gently tug towards the exit. Lucy rolls her eyes, letting him lead her towards the set of basement stairs in the entry way of the house.

The pair of them creep down the stairs slowly, Lucy briefly noticing Laxus, Loke, and Aries heading upstairs in order to get ready for the day. The kids will probably be excited to try ice skating for the first time. Mira, on the other hand, probably won't be as excited about being woken up so early on a Saturday. Not that Lucy blames her in the slightest. Hell, she doesn't want to be awake either, but ice skating is better than dealing with her father.

She and Natsu make it to the basement quickly enough, the pair being careful as they stumble around in the dark room. Lucy finds the light switch after a moment of blindly groping the wall, her lips twisting into a grin as she flights the lights on.

The occupants of the couches groan at the sudden brightness. Evergreen blinks at them blearily, before rolling over and tucking herself under Elfman's arm, deciding to just ignore them. Elfman lets out a snore and curls closer to his girlfriend.

Lisanna wakes up as well, squinting at the pair before rolling her eyes and turning over, grumbling something under her breath. Bixlow snores loudly, still fast asleep. He doesn't even move as Lucy walks up to the fold out couch, kicking at their feet slightly.

Lucy huffs, glancing back at Natsu, who merely shrugs, rubbing the back of his neck as he stares at her, waiting to see what she'll do next. Lucy rolls her eyes at his uselessness, kicking at Bixlow and Lisanna again. This time, Lisanna whines, nose wrinkling as she rolls onto her stomach. "Wake up, Losers," Lucy barks, placing her hands on her hips, "we're going ice skating."

She gets absolutely nothing in response.

Lucy bares her teeth suddenly, leaping onto the couch before Natsu can stop her, landing squarely on top of the couple, causing Lisanna to shriek in surprise at the sudden intrusion. Bixlow doesn't move, making Lucy snort in laughter. Someone's a heavily sleeper.

Lisanna groans, burying her face against the covers. "Ugh," she mumbles, voice muffled by the mess of blankets surrounding her. "Lucy," the other girl whines, rolling onto her back and blinking up at her friend tiredly. "It's like—" she waves her arms around nonsensically, attempting to glance at the clock on the wall before simply giving up and pouting, "—early," she finishes awkwardly, huffing.

"You're right," Lucy coos back, patting Lisanna's cheek gently, trying to wake up the other girl even more, "but I'm bored," she whines, pouting right back at Lisanna. Behind her, Natsu laughs at her ridiculousness, causing Lucy's grin to widen.

Scoffing, Lisanna attempts to pull the blanket over her head, but Lucy wrestles it from her grasp, kicking the blankets away from the pair of them so that Lisanna is forced to move or freeze. She just sighs, rolling her eyes and opting to freeze, apparently. "Can't you just go make out with Natsu?" she asks, gesturing wildly at the man.

Natsu chokes on his spit, face turning a lovely shade of red as he looks away from the girls, clearly embarrassed about in the insinuation, despite him implying far more in the past couple of days. Lucy fights down her own blush, frowning down at Lisanna.

"Maybe later," she blurts, fighting down a wince a moment later. Why the fuck did she say that? Well, maybe she'll just have to make good on that comment, she thinks, glancing at Natsu, who's staring back at her in utter bewilderment. "Right now I need to get out of this house before my dad gets back," she tells Lisanna lowly, gaining the other girl's attention immediately.

She sits up slightly, pressing up on her elbows and squinting at Lucy. "He's not here?" she says more so than asks, her lips curving up in a wicked grin, a strange twinkle in her eyes.

Lucy shakes her head, grinning back. "Nope," she replies, popping the "p" loudly, making Bixlow stir just the slightest. "Ida said he left really early this morning," she whispers, lowering her voice so only Lisanna can hear.

"You think he's pissed?" Lisanna whispers back, head tilting to the side curiously.

Lucy nods wildly, grin splitting her face. "Oh, definitely!" she agrees, cackling slightly.

"Nice!"

Bixlow yawns suddenly, waking up with a start. He frowns when he sees Lucy perched over Lisanna, his gaze flickering between the two girls in confusion, before sliding over to Natsu, who merely shrugs in response. His gaze drifts back to the girls, head cocking to the side curiously as he quirks a brow at the pair. "What's goin' on?" he asks, voice slurring from lack of use. He yawns again, rubbing a tired hand across his jaw as he squints at Lucy, trying to wake himself up.

Lucy grins back at him, lips curving back over her teeth to reveal a toothy smile. She bats her eyelashes at the man, to which he stares back blankly, merely blinking at her. Lucy rolls her eyes good-naturedly, reaching out to poke him between the eyes. Bixlow frowns, swatting her hand away. "We're going ice skating," she tells him, sliding off of the bed to stand beside Natsu.

Bixlow's eyes narrow in confusion, his gaze snapping back to Natsu suddenly, brow raising higher. Lucy huffs as the boys communicate with their eyes, making faces at each other. She'll never understand why they can't just use their words instead of looking at each other like goldfish.

She nudges Natsu with her elbow and he glances down at her briefly before turning back to Bixlow with a shrug. "Don't look at me," he tells the other man, wetting his lips as he glances down at Natsu again. "This is all her," he continues, jerking his thumb in Lucy's direction.

Bixlow frowns for a moment, glancing from one face to the other before shrugging and sitting up, resting his elbows on his bent knees. "Fine, but I don't know how to ice skate," he says simply, lips twisting into a half-smile as he begins to wake up more.

Lucy clucks her tongue, slipping her arm around Natsu's waist and giving him a slight squeeze. Natsu glances down at her curiously, but she keeps her gaze on the other couple. Lisanna giggles at Bixlow's confession, to which he rubs the back of his head in embarrassment. "Well," Lucy says, a teasing lilt to her voice, "luckily your girlfriend does." Her lips quirk into an amused grin. "I'm sure she'll hold you up," she promises, giggling when Lisanna nods wildly, her arms curling around her boyfriend as she grins up at him.

Bixlow locks eyes with Lisanna, who bats her eyelashes at him pleadingly, a cute pout pulling at her lips. If Lucy had known that Lisanna wanted to go ice skating, she would have suggested it earlier. Lucy herself hasn't had much time for skating recently either. It's a bit disappointing, not being able to enjoy one of your hobbies more frequently.

Bixlow rips his gaze away from his girlfriend, groaning lowly. There's a smile on his lips, though, so Lucy knows that he's only messing around. "Ugh," he sighs, tossing himself backwards on the bed. "Fine, just give me a half-hour to get my shit together," he tells them, grunting softly when Lisanna squeals and tosses herself on top of him.

"Deal," Lucy says, spinning on her heel to face the couple on the other couch. She kicks their makeshift bed as well, drawing twin groans from the pair, who must be at least a little bit awake, given that they weren't exactly whispering earlier. "Elfman!" she barks, startling the man awake as she places her hands on her hips. He shoots up, eyes wide as he blinks at her owlishly. "Wake up," she tells him, straightening her back to appear taller, "we're going ice skating."

He blinks at her again. "Ice skating," he repeats blearily, glancing down at Evergreen for a moment, before his gaze snaps back to Lucy curiously. His gaze is laced with confusion, as if he can't quite wrap his head around it, but Lucy can't blame him for that. She would be confused too if someone kicked her awake and make plans for her.

She knows that Elfman won't mind though. The big guy is always up for anything. Last year, he ended up going extreme downhill skiing—broke ten bones in his body and smiled about it. Elfman's kind of an adrenaline nut, but he's a good guy.

She claps her hands together in front of her, pressing up on her toes briefly to stretch out her legs. "Yes, ice skating," she repeats, nodding at him and grinning. "Very manly," she tells him, urging him to get up. "You're girlfriend will love it," she adds, gesturing at Evergreen and smiling.

Elfman blinks at her for a moment, then leaps off the bed, hoisting Evergreen into his arms without warning, causing the woman to shriek in surprise. She flails her arms, nearly punching Elfman in the face as she does. "What the hell, Elfman?" she hisses, letting him carry her towards the stairs.

"We're going ice skating," he tells her simply, not pausing for a second even as she squirms.

Evergreen's eyes narrow in confusion, but she slips her arms around Elfman's neck regardless, giving herself something to hold onto as she blinks back at the other four curiously. Lucy stifles a laugh, but Natsu can't hold it in as Elfman slips into a pair of fuzzy bunny slippers, not once loosening his hold on Ever. "Right now?" she asks blankly, grabbing her glasses from Elfman and frowning slightly.

"Yes."

"Why?" Ever asks, sputtering slightly.

Elfman just grins at her. "It's manly," he says simply.

Ever's frown deepens. "It's—oh forget it," she says, sighing and relaxing in his grasp.

Lucy and Natsu watch them go before exchanging a look. Natsu's eyes sparkle as they meet his and, without thinking too hard about it, Lucy rises on her toes and presses a kiss to his cheek, darting up the stairs after the couple before he can respond.

She misses the grin that creeps onto Natsu's lips.

* * *

By the time they actually make it to the park, it's nearly eleven-thirty. It had taken the group quite some time to organize themselves and find enough skates for everyone. Makarov has plenty of old pairs out in his garage, which was good as most of them hadn't thought to actually bring skates with them for the week, but they managed. The hard part was finding skates for the twins, as most were much too big for the six-year-olds. They managed though! Laxus somehow found two pairs of Lucy's old skates shoved up in the garage attic. Though he did face some trouble with an incredibly pissed off raccoon, who somehow managed to get stuck up there.

They made it to the park nonetheless! And Lucy managed to successfully avoid her father even after he returned to the Dreyar house. He headed straight into the kitchen without sparing Lucy a passing glance, which proved that he was still angry and had nothing to say to her. Which is fine by her. She'd rather have that than another argument so soon.

This time, she's not going to grovel for his forgiveness and try to fix things. That's on him this time. She's tired of being the bigger person and acting like what he says doesn't hurt her.

Natsu slips onto the bench next to her, thigh pressed against hers as he watches her lace her skates with ease, fingers working through old knots in the laces, tying them up in a pretty, but tight bow, double knotting them in order to keep her ankles from accidentally twisting on the ice. Lucy sighs, bumping her shoulder against his as she smooths out her jeans, straightening her sweater and coat before wrapping her scarf tighter around her neck.

She blinks up at Natsu suddenly, smiling as she gives him a once-over. He seems to have found his beanie at some point, the dark fabric making his hair appear brighter. He smiles back at her, pulling at the bottom of his leather jacket with a gloved hand, fingers brushing against the hem of his unbuttoned, red flannel as he does.

He bends down, beginning to tie his laces as well, Lucy watching curiously as he pulls at his lip with his teeth, frowning as he tries to tie his skates unsuccessfully. His lip ring flashes in the sunlight.

"Isn't your face cold?" she asks suddenly, gaze locked on his lips as she frowns at him, teeth tugging at her own lip. She realizes how strange the question must sound when Natsu glances up at her in confusion, his lips pulling into a bemused frown as he blinks at her. Lucy could slap herself for her wording.

He quirks a brow at her, finally finishing with his first skate before moving onto the next. Lucy looks away, wincing slightly as she glances at her family, all of them lacing up their own skates and spread across the other benches surrounding the pond, Though, Lisanna seems to have shoved Bixlow into the snow in order to lace his skates for him, her face pulled into a look of concentration. Her gaze snaps back to Natsu as he clears his throat. "Should it not be?" he asks, chuckling slightly as her embarrassment.

Lucy shakes her head, a small smile creeping onto her face. "The piercing," she clarifies, gesturing to her own lip as Natsu laces his other skate, much faster this time. Piercings can be a bitch during the winter. Half the time she can't stand going outside with her earrings in because he skin gets so damn cold. That's part of the reason she's taken to wearing her hair down recently. The freezing ears just aren't worth it.

He nods in understanding, mouth forming a little "o," though no sound leaves him. He grins at her, shrugging slightly before nodding, reaching up to finger the ring briefly before letting his hands drop back to his lap. "Yeah, a little bit," he tells her after a moment, suddenly seeming incredibly aware of the cold. He reaches up, tugging his beanie down over his ears just a little bit more, trying to block out the wind.

She nods in response, stretching out her legs as she waits for him to finish what he's doing. "Well," she tells him, clucking her tongue as she watches his fingers work. "If it stops feeling cold you better tell me," she says, bumping her shoulder against his gently. "I don't need you to accidentally freeze your lips off," she teases, standing shakily on her skates because of the snow.

He places his hands on her hips, holding her steady as she wobbles, before standing as well, grinning down at her in amusement. "Well, if they do you could always give me mouth to mouth," he jokes, dipping his head slightly. He reaches out suddenly, pinching her nose between his thumb and pointer finger, snickering when she yelps in surprise.

Lucy giggles, shoving at his shoulder gently. She raises her hands, placing them on his elbows to hold herself steady against him. "That's drowning," she reminds him, shaking her head slowly, sending stray snowflakes scattering from her hair, "not hypothermia." As much as she would enjoy that, it probably wouldn't save his lips at all.

She grins up at him, looking at him like he's something amazing.

Before Natsu can respond, Loke stomps up to them, plopping down on the bench they had just recently vacated. Aries follows behind him, a small smile on her face as she sits beside him, much more graceful than him. "This is going to be awful," he moans, covering his face with his hands, ignoring Aries when she tries to placate him with a hand on his shoulder.

Lucy snorts, hands dropping to her hips as she rolls her eyes at her cousin, narrowing them when she turns to look at him. "You're just mad because you can't skate," she tells him, scoffing and knowing that he'll stop acting like a baby if she eggs him on just a little bit.

It works. Loke's hands slip from his face and he sends Lucy a poisonous look, his face twisted into a scowl. He crosses his arms, glaring at her. "No, I'm mad because it's a little cold outside," he replies sarcastically, waving his hands slightly. "Yes, I'm mad because I don't know how to skate!" he snaps at her, uncrossing his arms and slapping his gloved palms against the bench.

His pout only worsens.

Lucy rolls her eyes, taking a careful step backwards and leaning Natsu towards the ice. He keeps his hand in hers, smiling as she makes a face at her cousin. Her gaze snaps to Natsu a moment later. "Loke's the only one of us cousins that can't stand up straight on the ice," she tells him in a mock whisper. Loke scowls at her, but all she's focused on is Natsu's smile.

Natsu snorts, shoulders shaking slightly as he holds back a laugh. "How did that happen?" he asks curiously, gaze dipping to her skates as she wobbles. He tightens his grip on her hand as she takes another step, leading him.

Lucy just shrugs, glancing behind her briefly as her skates touch the ice. She laces her fingers through his, giving him another gentle tug forward. "We aren't sure," she tells him, smiling up at him before peering around his shoulder to look at Loke for a moment, her cousin still fuming as he sits on the bench, refusing to tie his skates. "Laxus and I never had a problem with it. Loke just sucks," she tells Natsu, loud enough so that Loke can hear.

Loke turns to her, baring his teeth. "I can hear you!" he shouts at the pair, sticking his tongue out at them and slyly shooting them the bird when he's sure no impressionable children are looking. Aries berates him softly, causing Loke to pout.

"You were meant to!" she calls back, ducking to avoid the snowball Loke throws her way. The ball explodes against the ice harmlessly and Loke crosses his arms tighter across his chest.

Loke scoffs. "Sorry I didn't take figure skating lessons when I was young, or play hockey!" he says sarcastically, referencing her and Laxus respectively. It's true. She did used to take lessons, back before her dad decided to her out of them, thinking it was a frivolous waste of time. Laxus, however, played hockey all the way through college. He probably could have gone farther with it too, but he married Mira instead.

To this day, she's certain that Laxus has no regrets.

"You should be," Lucy teases her cousin. "It's embarrassing to skate with you," she tells him. And it really is. He's a toddler on the ice. Or a baby deer. It's kind of like that one scene from Bambi, except a lot less cute and a lot more painful. "You're lucky Aries loves you, or she would probably run away right now!"

"Rude!" Loke snaps back, shaking a fist at her. "Rude and uncalled for!"

Lucy simply ignores his protests, choosing instead to tug Natsu towards the ice, which he's still standing just inches away from, his hands holding hers tightly as he refuses to budge, shaking his head softly as he smiles.

They aren't the first ones on the ice. Mira and Laxus are already spinning around slowly, wrapped up in each others arms as they smile at each other adoringly. Lisanna and Bixlow had volunteered to watch the twins earlier, seeing as how they ditched Natsu and Lucy the day before. They're standing on the edge of the ice, Lisanna trying to coax the twins and Bixlow onto the ice, giggling when the three of them refuse, all incredibly tentative about stepping on the ice. Elfman and Evergreen are on the ice as well, the pair clutching at each other as they wobble on the ice, somehow managing to keep their balance and not drag each other to the ground.

She peers up at Natsu curiously, lips twitching into a frown. Her brows furrow slightly, and he looks away from her, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly with one hand, the other still clasped with hers. His teeth pull at his lip in what she's come to recognize as a nervous tick of his. "What's wrong?" she asks him, pushing herself forward just the slightest so that she's practically pressed against him.

He clears his throat suddenly, blushing as he looks away from her. "I don't know how to ice skate," he tells her suddenly, sending her an embarrassed smile that practically melts her heart. He swallows thickly, throat bobbing with the motion. She follows it with her eyes before they snap back up to his.

She sends him a soft smile, sliding backwards slightly so that their arms begin to straighten. She squeezes his palm, holding out her other hand as well. "Just hold my hands," she tells him. "I won't let you fall," she promises in a whisper, eyes heartbreakingly honest as she stares up at him.

Natsu chuckles, slipping his fingers through hers as he takes a hesitant step onto the ice. One foot after the other. He lets her pull him along with her gently, her legs pumping as she skates backwards slowly, moving them just a few steps. "I think it's too late for that, Lucy," he murmurs back, lips twisting into a fond smile as he stares down at her in awe, looking at her like she's something wonderful.

They're quiet for a while, Lucy just leading him around in one big circle, being careful not to accidentally run into anyone as she continues to skate backwards, keeping her fingers locked between his, gaze flicking between his face and their skates, watching to make sure he doesn't inadvertently trip over a rough patch of ice. He stumbles every so often, but it's more due to him watching her instead of the ice, rather than his ability to ice skate. Natsu's eyes never once leave her face, his gaze constantly tracing her features: the curve of her jaw, her lips, her _eyes_ —anything he can see.

After about a half-hour of skating around in circles and stretching their muscles, Natsu forgets to be bad at ice skating, catching Lucy's attention immediately. Her gaze locks on his feet, watching as he straightens out and begins to move with more grace that she would have expected for someone skating for the first time. Her eyes snap up, locking with his sharply. He smiles back sheepishly, knowing he's been caught. "You liar," she gasps, giggling as she realizes he pulled a fast one on her.

Natsu clears his throat, having the decency to look embarrassed about getting caught. "Six years of ice hockey," he admits after several seconds, beginning to speed up slightly, dropping the act completely.

She laughs again, shaking her head slowly as she rolls her eyes. "So why'd you fake not knowing?" she asks him as they blow passed Mira and Laxus, who are more or less cuddling, rather than skating.

"Maybe I just wanted to hold your hand," Natsu tells her, shrugging slightly, grinning down at her.

"You could have just asked," she tells him.

He grins down at her. "Probably."

Lucy shakes her head, squeezing his palm in hers before turning herself around, skating beside him now, rather than in front of him. Natsu squeezes her hand back and the two of them speed up, breezing passed Loke and Aries, the former of which stumbling around awkwardly as the latter tries not to laugh. Out of the corner of her eye, Lucy sees Lisanna and Bixlow, each holding up one of the twins as they skate in small circles over on the far end of the pond, keeping them away from the other adults until everyone gets a handle of themselves. Mira and Laxus laugh as he lifts her straight off the ice for a brief moment, spinning around before placing her back onto the ice.

They continue like this for a while, Natsu and Lucy lazily skating around the pond, chatting idly about anything and everything that comes up: their dreams, family the weather—anything to keep each other talking.

Lucy rather likes the sound of his voice.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lucy sees Elfman lead Evergreen to the center of the pond, the pair coming to a wobbly stop as Elfman places his hands on her shoulders, grinning down at her widely.

Lucy slows to a stop and Natsu frowns down at her, confused, before following her gaze and stopping as well. The pair watches in awe as Elfman grasps Evergreen's hand, slowly lowering himself onto one knee on the ice as he pulls something out of his coat pocket.

It's quiet for a moment, and Lucy holds her breath as she stares, her fingers squeezing Natsu's gently. A moment later, Evergreen nods, saying something too low for Lucy to hear, but she figures it must be good, considering the way Elfman surges off the ice and wraps his arms around the girl.

* * *

 **AN: The next part may need to be bumped up to an M rating, but only for the very end of the chapter! Though, I'm not certain of this yet! Be sure to review and let me know what you think! Two parts left!**


	7. (Mistle)Toe the Line

**AN: The last half of this is just smut. If you don't want to see it, just end the chapter when they start to head upstairs. ;)**

 **Deck the Halls, Bitches**

 **Part Seven: (Mistle)Toe the Line**

* * *

It took the group of them longer than expected to return home from their excursion. Elfman's proposal had surprised all of them, most notably Evergreen, but also Lisanna and Mira, as well. The sisters had immediately swarmed their new future sister-in-law, tears in their eyes as they welcomed her to the family, startling the poor girl so badly that she started crying as well. Lucy eventually had to drag the siblings away so that Elfman could spend time with his new fiancée, much to Lisanna and Mira's disappointment. Lucy had merely rolled her eyes at their complaints, reminding them that they'd have the next few months to do each others hair and make blood sacrifices to the heathen gods, or whatever the hell the Strauss siblings are into.

After they left the park, they somehow found themselves at a local pub, which was selling mixed drinks of eggnog and rum at the time. They had all bought themselves a round to celebrate, save for the twins, who had nonalcoholic eggnog, and Aries who isn't much of a drinker.

Because of the surprise, they didn't end up coming back to the house until almost three-thirty, much to Makarov's frustration. As soon as the group entered the house, they were immediately shoved towards their temporary rooms with orders to "clean up" and "put on something nice" before coming back downstairs. Usually, the Dreyar family is fairly relaxed when it comes to celebratory dress, but Makarov always makes a point of having everyone look their very best on Christmas Eve. Something about them all being together once in a blue moon.

At least he doesn't want them to wear matching sweaters or Santa hats. She's fine with dressing up nicely one day out of the year. It gives her an excuse to wear the dresses in the pack of her closet the she buys for dates she doesn't end up going on! If nothing else, it makes her feel like she's not wasting her money, and that's all she needs.

That's how she finds herself standing in the family room, dolled up in a deep purple cocktail dress and nursing a plum sour made by her new best friend Bixlow. Yeah, Lisanna never mentioned that her boyfriend is a mixologist, but when Lucy found out she immediately dragged the man to Makarov's old wine cellar, which is stocked with everything and everything. Did she use him to make her a drink so she could avoid the generic rum or vodka? Yes. Did Bixlow appear to care? Judging by his excitement and the hug he gave her, absolutely not.

It's a win-win situation, she decides. She gets alcohol and Bixlow gets to fuck around with an assortment of strange liquors. They're both winners in this situation.

Lucy smiles into her drink, leaning back against the far wall as Loke and Aries bring out a trey of the cookies Natsu and Lucy made the night before, the couple whispering about something as Loke twirls his fiancé under his arm, spinning her in circles. Aries shrieks, nearly dropping the trey, but Loke manages to keep it from falling.

Lucy hides a smile behind her drink, shaking her head slowly and sending a few messy strands of curly hair spilling into her face. With only a half-hour to get ready, Lucy is pretty amazed that she managed to tame her hair into a decent bun, leaving a few strands to frame her face. Usually, her hair is a little bitch and doesn't do anything she wants.

Someone comes up beside her, an arm curling around her waist naturally. She doesn't need to look up to know who it is. A smile flits over Lucy's lips before she can stifle it, but then again, why would she want to? Lucy doesn't look up at the new arrival, instead choosing to watch Laxus fight with a strand of Christmas lights, the colorful array of bulbs tangling around his legs and knotting in several places, much to her cousin's frustration.

"Hey," someone whispers in her ear, lips grazing her skin softly, much to her enjoyment. She manages to stop herself from doing something like shivering, instead leaning into the man's side as he rests against the wall beside her.

She takes another sip of her drink, nose wrinkling at the sharp, fruity taste. Bixlow did a good job, she decides, peering down at her glass with a smile. "Hi," she replies after several seconds, simply enjoying his company. Natsu smiles against the shell of her ear, fingers tapping against the curve of her waist in time with whatever sound Lisanna had pulled up on her phone, the steady thrum of music pulsing through the room gently.

His hand moves to hers, fingers slipping up her bare arm slowly, before sliding back down. "Did I miss anything?" he murmurs, glancing around at the people milling around the room, everyone finding something to do be it decorating or merely staying out of the way.

Lisanna and Bixlow have taken to serving drinks to the adults, taking turns picking what cocktails to make. Mira is struggling to help Laxus with the lights, only succeeding in tangling them up even more. Makarov is on the floor, telling the twins a story about his early like in Russia during the revolution, with Ida listening in with interest. Elfman and Evergreen have tucked themselves into a corner of the room, simply enjoying each other's presence. Her father is standing by the fireplace, lips twisted into a frown as he sends Lucy a narrow look.

She pretends not to notice, turning on her heel to face Natsu more directly, taking in his appearance with raised eyes, approval on her lips. "Nice tie," she tells him, reaching up to give the fabric a sharp tug, bringing Natsu's face closer to hers. He lets out a small huff as the tie loosens around his neck, the knot beginning to come loose from his shoddy job at tying it.

She thinks it looks better that way.

He chuckles, smiling down at her as she sets down her drink and begins to retie it for him, doing a much better job that he did. She doesn't blame him for doing a poor job at it. The only reason she knows how to tie these damn things is because her father made her learn how when she was about ten. Natsu wets his lips, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment as she flashes him a smile. "Thanks," he tells her, watching her hands pull the fabric into a loop. "Mira found it for me." He shrugs, apparently clueless about where she might have found an extra tie, but Lucy figures that she planned it. The girl always brings extra things with her, ready for anything short of an apocalypse.

"We match," she murmurs, smoothing a hand down the front of his button up, flattening the dark purple tie against his chest. Her lips press into a pensive line, eyes narrowing just the slightest. She's pretty sure Mira was there with her when she bought this dress, and the color would have been an easy one to match, but there's no way the other girl could have known that Lucy would bring this specific dress this year.

Lucy's gaze shifts to Mira, who catches her eye for a moment before winking and turning away just as quickly.

Natsu clears his throat, drawing her attention back to him in an instant. She cocks her head to the side curiously as he shuffles nervously from one leg to the other. "Is that a bad thing?" he whispers back to her, one handing wrapping around her wrist gently, his fingers warm against her pulse point. There's something shy in his voice that she hasn't heard before, and she watches as his throat bobs as he swallows thickly.

Her gaze rises to meet his and his eyes immediately lock with hers. "Not at all," she reassures him, smiling up at him, keeping one hand pressed to his chest as she tangles her fingers through his, giving his hand a squeeze. "You clean up nicely," she adds, eyes trailing him up and down slowly.

Sure, his shirt is untucked and he has his sleeves pushed up over his elbows haphazardly, but he looks just the right amount of messy. Classy, but not necessarily proper. It suits him. Aesthetically and personality wise. She's just glad that he didn't try to stuff himself into a full blown suit like her father has. That would have been far too much.

He chuckles, thumb brushing over her knuckles. Her eyes snap up to meet his once more and she watches as his expression relaxes, the tension leaving his body like it was never there to begin with. "Thanks," he whispers, teething his lower lip briefly. "I considered taking out the piercings—" he starts, only for Lucy to cut him off.

"No," she says suddenly, stopping him before he can finish, her head already shaking before he's finished the last word. "Leave them," she tells him, squeezing his hand in hers as she reaches up with her free hand, letting it trail up his chest before curving around his jaw, her thumb brushing over his lower lip gently, hushing him as she skims across his lip ring. "They're a part of you," Lucy adds, voice low. "You shouldn't have to take them out."

He cocks his head to the side, lips parting slightly. "Your family won't mind?" he asks after several seconds of just _looking_ at her. Really, truly seeing her. There's bemusement in his gaze, as if he's not used to people _not_ judging him for his piercing or his hair.

She figures that he probably isn't, as sad as it is.

"If they do, they don't matter," she tells him simply, shrugging and trying to ignore the heavy weight of her father's stare. She knows who he means by family—her father, not Makarov or Ida or Laxus. He means her father. And while she wouldn't put it passed him to try to corner her later and tell her how horrible her life's choices are, he won't make a scene in front of everyone else.

He's a bigot, but he won't make a martyr out of himself to promote his shitty opinions.

Natsu's eyes flicker across her face, taking her in. He nods after a moment, his smile coming back. Lucy thinks he looks best when he smiles. His entire being just seems to light up in a way she's very rarely seen. "Okay," he whispers back to her, still smiling. "Thank you," he tacks on, arms wrapping around her in a tight embrace.

Lucy inhales sharply, eyes widening slightly as she's pulled into his chest, his arms curling around her back, anchoring him to her gently. Lucy blinks in surprise for a moment, before slipping her own arms around his back, sighing softly as she pressed her cheek against his collarbone, lips pulling up in a small smile.

His grip around her tightens briefly, and she hears him swallow loudly next to her ear, lips parting audibly as he tilts his head towards her, exhaling nervously as he shifts towards her. She thinks he's about to speak, maybe ask her something, when someone calls his name, causing him to snap around in surprise, his arms loosening around her as they both peer at the person calling for him.

It's Laxus, still tangled in Christmas lights. Mira seems to have disappeared from him side, apparently giving up on helping her husband with the decorations. Lucy can understand that. Laxus is absolutely horrible to work with when decorating. He has no sense of aesthetics unless it includes things lighting on fire.

And hey! They haven't had a house fire! Yet! Maybe they'll finally make it one Christmas without one. Now that truly would be a Christmas miracle. They've had fires every year since she was fourteen. That's almost a decade of them accidentally lighting shit on fire.

"Hey, Natsu!" Laxus calls again, seemingly not very pleased about having to repeat himself, judging by the scowl on his face. Then again, Laxus is always scowling. He has something of a permanent resting bitch face. Which is kind of hilarious when she thinks about it. The rest of them are all smiles and sunshine, and then there's Laxus. It's adorable. Christmas cards are fun. "Come help!" her cousin barks at her date, still covered in a tangled mess of lights.

Natsu sends her a bewildered and slightly panicked look, his arms loose around her back. Lucy suppresses a smile and slips out of Natsu's arms, placing her hands on her hips and sending Laxus a mock angry look. "Really?" she asks him, eyes narrowing playfully. "You're going to steal my date?" Lucy scoffs, pretending to be offended.

Laxus's lips quirk up at the edges and he raises a brow in her direction, a challenge in his eyes. "Would _you_ rather help me with the lights?" he asks after a moment, watching with a smirk as she cringes and takes a step back, shaking her head and reaching for her forgotten drink.

"Nope," Lucy decides, sending Natsu a quick look before turning back to her cousin. She jerks a thumb in Natsu's direction. "You can have him," she tells her cousin, ignoring Natsu's betrayed expression. Laxus snorts, shaking his head and waving the younger man over.

Natsu peers down at her, lips twisted into an exaggerated frown as he sends her a wounded look. "You're sacrificing me to your cousin?" he asks her, scandalized.

She just giggles. "Better you than me," she tells him, leaning up to press a quick kiss against his cheek. "Besides, I helped him last year." She doesn't tell him that it was a horrible experience or that they started an electrical fire. Maybe they should just stop letting Laxus do the lights? "He's trying to welcome you to the family," she continues, swallowing thickly, "be nice."

He disappears from her side a moment later, chuckling and reaching out to squeeze her shoulder briefly.

"He has a nice smile," Ida comments, stepping up beside Lucy slowly. The younger woman just smiles, raising her drink to her lips. Ida waits until she's taking a sip to continue. "And a nice ass," she tells her granddaughter, grinning when she chokes on her drink, sputtering slightly.

Lucy sends her grandmother a bewildered look, blinking rapidly. She coughs suddenly, unsure how to respond to the comment. It's not like she doesn't agree, but she'd rather not talk about the shape of Natsu's ass with her grandmother. Lucy shakes her head, raising her drink to her lips once more. "He's too young for you," she reminds Ida, hiding a teasing smile behind her drink, hoping she doesn't accidentally offend the other woman.

Ida, however, just nods in agreement, her gaze focused on Natsu as he tries to untangle Laxus from the lights. Somehow, Bixlow has been roped into helping as well, though he's mostly laughing as Laxus becomes more and more tangled in the strands, Natsu only seeming to make things worse. "And too in love with you," Ida tells her, nursing her own drink as she sends Lucy a brazen look.

"Grandma," Lucy sighs, shaking her head slowly, grip tightening on her wine glass just the slightest. Of course, her grandmother doesn't know that this is all fake. They aren't dating—might never be. Maybe they've been acting too well. Or, Lucy thinks, swallowing thickly, maybe they've stopped acting all together. The cuddling at night? Almost making out in the kitchen the night before? None of that was necessary.

There's a snort from Lucy's left, and she glances down at her Grandmother, brow raised questioningly. She's met by an equally questioning look from the older woman. "What?" she asks, quirking a brow right back at Lucy, lips parting to reveal her teeth as she grins. "I'm old not blind," she reminds Lucy, winking at her.

Lucy shakes her head, her drink suddenly tasting far too sour on her tongue, or maybe that's just the words there. "We haven't even been dating that long," she murmurs. _Or at all_ , she thinks bitterly. Her knuckles begin to turn white as she squeezes the glass and she hastily loosens her grip, not wanting to accidentally break it.

She glances up at the boys. Natsu catches her eyes, grinning at her widely as he gestures to Laxus, finally untangled from the string of lights, which they're beginning to wrap around the tree quickly. Behind them, Lisanna is beginning to grow impatient, foot tapping against the wood floor as she waits for them to finish, a box of decorations clutched in her hands. Lucy returns Natsu's smile briefly, before he turns back to what he's doing.

Ida snorts again, but it's softer this time, sounding more like a sigh than anything else. She glances up at Lucy gently, a sad little smile on her lips. "Time doesn't dictate love, Min Kære," she whispers, voice so light Lucy almost does hear her. There's a heaviness in her grandmother's eyes, a weight that Lucy always notices around the holidays.

Lucy swallows thickly, trying to ignore the way her heart squeezes at the thought of being in love with Natsu. She isn't. She can't be, but she might very well be on her way there. He's a hard person not to love, if her family is anything to judge by. She smiles ruefully, taking another sip o her plum sour. "It's illogical," she murmurs back, leaning back against the wall with a sigh.

"Love isn't logical," Ida tells her, chuckling slightly. She nudges Lucy with her elbow, nodding towards a couple across the room. "Look at Lisanna and Bixlow," she tells the girl, watching as Bixlow lifts Lisanna by the waist so she can place ornaments higher of the tree, the two of them giggling as Lisanna barely manages to slip the star onto the top of the pine. "Happy as clams together."

"But that's not love," Lucy tells her, shaking her head softly. Maybe someday it will be, but it's too soon for it to be love. Sure, they've been dating for a few weeks and they did have something going on before that, but you can't just fall in love with someone over night. Those things take time.

Another laugh from Ida. "Maybe it is," she tells Lucy, taking a large gulp of whatever alcohol she seems to have procured from Bixlow earlier in the night. She swirls her glass, making the pale pink liquid within swish beautifully. "Maybe we're just scared to call it that." She glances up at Lucy once more, raising a challenging brow at the younger woman.

Lucy's lips press into a thin line, a pensive expression crossing her face. "All the whirlwind love stories are tragedies," she reminds her grandmother, peeking down at her. "Romeo and Juliet." she clucks her tongue. "Paris and Helen." She could go on, but she doesn't particularly want to. All of the greatest love stories of the ages end in death or war. That's not exactly a comforting thought.

"Yes," Ida agrees, taking another sip of her drink. "But they were all written by men," she tells Lucy, who frowns back, not understanding the correlation, but also not wanting to ask.

She shifts on her feet, resisting the urge to bite her lip, least she smudge her lipstick. "Were you in love with Sven?" she asks suddenly, watching as Natsu and Laxus disappear into the kitchen, talking animatedly about something Lucy can't hear over the other noise in the room.

Ida sighs through her nose, swirling her drink once more. "More in love with him than I ever was with your grandfather," she admits softly, tone a little bitter when she mentions Lucy's late grandfather. She knows that the pair never got along. Their marriage was arranged and her grandfather was always a bit controlling, according to Ida. That's probably how her father ended up the way he did. No child of Ida's should have been such a prick.

Lucy leans her head back against the wall, not understanding. "But why?" she croaks, heart constricting in her chest. She feels like crying, unable to understand what she's feeling at this point. She's just so damn confused. Not about Natsu, of course. She knows that she likes him, but there's still the matter of— "You two hardly knew each other," she murmurs, eyes squeezing shut tightly.

A warm hand is places on Lucy's bare shoulder, fingers curling around the joint slowly before giving a soft squeeze. Lucy doesn't open her eyes. "Aye," Ida agrees, sighing once more, "but what we did know were things that mattered, not just trivial facts."

"I'm not in love with him," Lucy tells her grandmother. And she's not. She doesn't think she is, anyway.

Ida hums, though Lucy isn't sure whether or not it's in agreement. "And Sven isn't your biological grandfather," she tells Lucy, before patting her on the shoulder and walking away without another word.

Lucy freezes, her eyes narrowing slightly as she stares after Ida, lips parting slightly in bewilderment. Did her grandmother just admit what she thinks she admitted? Or was she agreeing with Lucy?

She decides she doesn't want to know.

She doesn't know how long she spends standing their in silence, but eventually she pushes off the wall, deciding it's about time for her to grab another drink. She'll be needing it, if the past week is anything to judge by. Of course, that's when she nearly runs into Natsu as he's leaving the kitchen. "Hi," he says, smiling down at her and catching he by the elbows as she loses her balance.

Lucy smiles up at him in greeting, inhaling sharply at the sudden contact. A moment later, she frowns, realizing he smells distinctly like raspberries. "Have you been drinking more of Makarov's vodka?" she asks in lieu of a hello, leaning forward just a bit more to sniff him.

On second thought, maybe she doesn't need another drink.

Natsu chuckles, looking a bit embarrassed. She doesn't know why. Makarov makes great vodka, there's nothing for any of them to be ashamed about. "Just—little bit," he tells her, holding out his thumb and pointer finger for emphasis, they two of them only millimeters away from each other.

Lucy giggles back, raising a brow at him, clearly not believing him. No one ever has just a little bit of Makarov's vodka. To do so would be a crime. "Oh, really?" she asks, calling his bluff. Natsu, for his part, manages to keep a straight face as he nods.

"Yeah," he tells her seriously, then laughs, his stoic expression melting away in an instant. "It's good!" Natsu tells her when she rolls her eyes, curling an arm around her waist and pulling her up against him, poking her nose with his free hand. Lucy grins up at him, momentarily shoving her grandmother's words to the back of her mind. "Do you think he'd give me the recipe?" Natsu asks, dipping his chin to whisper in her ear as if it's a secret.

Lucy snorts, shaking her head slowly. "You'd have to pry it from his cold, dead hands," she tells Natsu, smiling sweetly. That is, if Makarov ever dies. Lucy thinks he might be immortal.

"Is that so?" Natsu asks, smiling widely down at her. She nods rapidly, giggling.

Natsu starts to respond, but he's cut off by Lisanna. "Hey, Lucy!" She other girl shouts over the music, gaining the attention of nearly everyone in the room. The girl is balancing precariously on Bixlow's shoulders, still placing ornaments on the tree. A wicked smile creeps across her lips, then, she points towards the ceiling, wiggling her eyebrows at her friend.

Lucy frowns back, not understanding, before glancing up, gaze searching for whatever Lisanna had been gesturing too. She freezes suddenly, eyes widening as she realizes what's above them. Natsu inhales sharply as well, gaze locked on the little plant hanging above them, tied to the ceiling with a red ribbon.

Behind her, Bixlow begins to make kissing noises.

She doesn't know what makes her blurt it out, but it's the first thought that comes to mind upon seeing the little plant. "Did you know that mistletoe is poisonous?" she murmurs to him, not really expecting an answer. Her heart begins to beat faster, practically slamming against her rib cage, and she briefly wonders if Natsu can feel it against his own chest.

She can feel her father's eyes burning against her back, rage boiling just beneath the surface, but that's not why she does it.

Natsu lets out a sound halfway between a gasp and a laugh, something soft and shaky and Lucy can't help it when she grabs him by the tie and yanks him down to meet her, his mouth crashing against hers almost violently. His hands immediately latch onto her hips, holding her steady as she presses up on her toes to kiss him. One of Lucy's arms slinks around the back of his neck, dragging him down to her, the other clenching his tie tightly between her fingers. She sighs against his mouth, feeling the coolness of him lip ring pressing against her lower lip.

Natsu exhales through his nose, practically sighing against her, mouth pressing against hers with just enough pressure to make her head spin as he pulls her flush up against him, arms coiling around her back. Lucy is assaulted by the smell of raspberries as she presses herself up against him, tilting her chin up to deepen the kiss as best she can. Natsu leans into her, tilting her back as he kisses her harder. His teeth nip at her lower lip suddenly, followed by his tongue brushing over the same spot. A small sound leaves her throat, but he swallows it quickly, pressing closer.

There's a wolf-whistle behind her and Lucy suddenly remembers her family members are watching—and probably getting more of an eyeful than they bargained for.

Lucy lurches back, breathing heavily as she stares up at him, releasing her grip on his tie and pressing her palm against his chest, feeling his heart racing beneath her hand. He blinks down at her, lips parted and stained a deep red in color, whether the coloring is due to her lipstick or otherwise in unknown to her. She swallows thickly, his breath fanning across his face as he pants, grip tightening on her hip unexpectedly.

Mira steps out into the family room beside them, clapping her hands in front of her to gain everyone's attention. She looks around the room, gaze lingering on Natsu and Lucy for just a moment, a sly smile on her lips. "Dinner is ready!" she tells them all, spinning on her heel and whirling back into the kitchen, beckoning them all forward.

Lucy glances up at Natsu who's still staring back at her, breathing heavily.

Dinner, she decides, is going to be incredibly long.

* * *

Lucy realizes she was right about four hours later, the clock just short of ten o'clock as the adults sit around the table, drinking and chatting with each other about nothing in particular. Mira had taken the kids to bed about an hour earlier, despite their sleepy protests, and as soon as they were gone the good wine glasses were brought out, along with more of Makarov's vodka stash and an assortment of other drinks that Bixlow was concocting right in front of them.

Lucy and Natsu had been pulled into conversation with Lisanna and Bixlow about ten minutes after the drinks came out and haven't moved since, Natsu's hand warm against her bare thigh, fingers teasing her sensitive skin, and Lucy nursing her third drink of the night, giggly, but nowhere near drunk.

Natsu's fingers skim along the inside of her thigh, just above her knee, barely brushing the hem of her dress as it rides up her legs. She squirms slightly, shivering as her fingertips ghost across her skin teasingly. He hides a smirk behind his glass, only half-listening as Lisanna talks his ear off about the Christmas party the previous year, recounting in great detail how Lucy and Laxus accidentally lit the Christmas tree on fire, much to Lucy's embarrassment. She doesn't interrupt the storytelling, however, much more concerned with the way Natsu is teasing her beneath the table, getting her worked up despite only barely touching her.

She shifts again, holding back a sigh as she spreads her knees apart slightly, his movements growing bolder as she does: his touch just a little bit firmer and fingers staying pressed against her skin longer than before.

"So," Lisanna says suddenly, gaze snapping towards Lucy, who freezes as blue eyes lock with hers. Lisanna's grin is just a bit too much like her sisters: sly, as if she's planning something. "You two are coming to the New Year's party, right?" she asks glancing between the couple sitting opposite them.

Natsu and Lucy share a look, neither of them really discussing the proposal from two days earlier. Lucy wouldn't have a problem with going, but she doesn't want to ruin any of the plans Natsu might have already made. He just shrugs though, grinning at her as he runs his fingertips up her thigh. Lucy's knee jerks up, but he holds her in place, keeping her from slamming her knee against the tabletop.

"Depends," she says after a moment, voice slightly higher than usual. Natsu hides a smile behind his drink and Lucy swallows thickly, hoping her face isn't as red as it feels. "Can we bring a couple of friends?" she asks Lisanna, trying to keep the other girl talking. Lucy might say something stupid if she keeps opening her mouth.

Lisanna quirks a brow, lips twisting into a toothy grin. "Cana?" she asks, excitement clear on her face. The other girl always has loved hanging out with the brunette, and Cana had practically taken Lisanna under her wing during high school. Lucy frowns slightly, feeling bad. Cana and Lisanna haven't been able to see much of each other in the last few years, what with the two of them going to different schools and all. Though, Lucy did hear from a certain someone that Lisanna might be moving back into town, which will certainly be nice. Lucy's missed having the other girl being around to chat her ear off. It's just too quiet without Lisanna around.

Lucy grins back, nodding. "Cana," she agrees, taking a drink. Besides, Cana will probably kill her if Lucy abandons her on New Year's Eve. Lucy has already been getting daily texts from her friend, most of them consisting of frowny faces and demands that Lucy keep her updated on the Natsu situation. And Lucy will gladly tell her all about it, considering Cana is the only one she really can tell. Other than Gajeel, of course, but she doubts he wants to hear any of it. Lucy snorts, gaining Lisanna's attention once again. "That girl just loves a good party," she says fondly, a grin creeping onto her lips.

And while Lucy would much rather spend the night sleeping or doing something else—she glances at Natsu out of the corner of her eye, but rips her gaze away when he catches her eye, winking at her—there's no way in hell that Cana would let her pass up a party.

Besides, she always has wanted to be kissed at midnight.

"Is she bringing a date?" Lisanna asks, giggling. At this point, the boys have tuned out, turning to discuss something that Lucy isn't all too interested in. Probably sports, she guesses, judging by Bixlow's rapid hand movements and animated expressions.

Lucy turns back to Lisanna, trying to ignore the way Natsu's thumb is drawing small circles against her leg, fingers tickling her skin ceaselessly. He's trying to tease her to death, she thinks, swallowing thickly and trying to stifle a groan. She must not be as successful as she hoped, as his gaze flicks to her immediately before going back to Bixlow, a wicked grin creeping onto his lips.

The way his hand is crawling up her dress under the dinning room table is woefully inappropriate. Anyone could see them if they happened to really look. The tablecloth is by no means thick—it's quite transparent actually, but that doesn't seem to bother Natsu in the slightest. In fact, it only sees to egg him on even more.

If Lucy's being honestly, she can't say that she really minds either. There's something thrilling about the prospect of being caught, but she would never tell him that. She's not sure how far he would go if he knew just how much this was affecting her. Furthermore, she's not sure how far she would _let_ him go.

Lucy presses her thighs together, squirming in her seat and trapping Natsu's hand between her legs. His grin only widens though. She realizes that egging him on earlier during dinner probably wasn't her best move, but she'll be damned if she regrets it.

"Yeah," Lucy tells Lisanna, shifting her glass to her other hand before slipping it under the table. She relaxes her legs, slipping her hand between them to tangle with his, her fingers lacing between his before squeezing slightly. "She has this new girlfriend, Kagura," she tells Lisanna, smiling at her from across the table. Under the tablecloth she slides Natsu's hand higher under her skirt, her smile widening as she hears his inhale sharply beside her. Lucy continues as if nothing had happened. "She's a bit of a stick in the mud sometimes," she mused, fighting back a shiver as Natsu's fingers go back to tracing nonsensical shapes against her inner thigh. She tightens her grip on his hand. "But Cana's starting to bring out more of her wild side."

She clears her throat before taking a drink, trying hard to control her breathing.

Lisanna simply nods, completely oblivious to what's going on under the table. Lucy casts a quick look at the other occupants, sighing when she realizes none of them are even looking at her, save for two people at the other end. Her father hasn't stopped staring at her all night, but he doesn't seem particularly bothered, so she doubts he has a clue what's happening. Ida, however, sends Lucy a wink, making Lucy freeze in place, her eyes widening slightly. The older woman just turns back to her conversation with Makarov as if nothing is happening.

In that moment, Lucy realizes she's becoming her grandmother. Whirlwind affair and all.

Suddenly, Lucy isn't as sure of what she said to her grandmother earlier. After all, the older woman is a hell of a lot wiser than Lucy.

"Is she the one from on your college fencing team with the resting bitch face?" Lisanna asks suddenly, lips pursed and head cocked to the side curiously as she stares at Lucy. Lucy simply nods in response, not sure she can speak at the moment as Natsu continues whatever the hell it is he's doing with his fingers. "I thought she liked Erza?" Lisanna continues, looking at Lucy expectantly.

Lucy downs her glass, knowing she's going to need it if Lisanna keeps asking her questions. "Yeah," she says, clearing her throat and smiling at the other girl, remembering Kagura's infatuation with Erza. "Well, she gave up on that once Erza officially started going out with Jellal," she explains simply, shrugging.

"Huh," Lisanna finishes her own glass, reaching to pour another. She raises the bottle towards Lucy, raising a brow as she shakes the bottle slightly. Lucy nods, holding out her glass for Lisanna to refill. Lucy smiles in thanks as Lisanna does so. "Good for her," Lisanna says suddenly. "And Cana. Though, Kagura seems a little…" She trails off, waving her hand in front of her as she tries to think of a word.

"Intense," Lucy supplies. Lisanna nods, smiling gratefully. Lucy grins back, shrugging slightly. "I think Cana needs someone a little intense to keep up with her," she murmurs, staring down at her drink, swirling it absentmindedly before taking a drink.

Lisanna chuckles. "It wouldn't surprise me." She looks away then, turning to Bixlow.

Natsu takes the chance to lean down towards her, whispering in her ear. "Your dad's been staring at you," he tells her lips brushing her skin as his fingers begin to tap against her thigh absentmindedly. He doesn't sound happy about it, but she doesn't blame him. After all, he did witness her breaking down last night after an argument with the man.

It's sweet, how protective he is, but she doesn't want him to get caught in the middle of a longstanding feud. He doesn't deserve that.

Lucy hums, already knowing that he's been watching her. She's felt his eyes on her all night, and it hasn't been a comforting gaze. Not in the slightest. "That doesn't surprise me," she tells him, sighing through her nose. She squeezes his hand under the table when he tenses. "Hey," she murmurs, turning to whisper in his ear. "He's not going to start something like Ivan did," she promises. "My dad's a jerk, but he won't say anything in front of everyone."

Natsu presses a quick kiss to her hair, letting his lips rest there for a long moment. "So he's a coward?" he murmurs, inhaling deeply as he rests his cheek against the top of her head.

She chuckles. "Something like that."

A moment later, Jude speaks up, proving Lucy entirely _wrong_.

"Lucy," her father says suddenly from the end of the table, making both her and Natsu freeze in place. The other occupants of the table still as well, and that immediately makes Lucy angry. Her father can ruin her night all he wants, but she won't let him to that to anyone else.

She straightens her back, pulling away from Natsu entirely, her hand leaving his under the table. Natsu grip tightens on her leg, grounding her or himself she doesn't know. "Don't," she tells her father politely, tone clipped as she sends him a smile that's all venom. "I don't want to do this right now," she tells him simply, nodding once before turning back to Natsu.

He ignores her, as usual. "I just wanted to apologize for upsetting you last night," he says, equally as polite, though a hell of a lot less genuine.

Lucy pauses halfway to turning to Natsu, body going rigid. Her knuckles turn white as they clench around her wine glass. If anything her smile turns even colder. "Well, that's the thing isn't it?" she asks him sharply, not bothering to face him directly. She huffs, shaking her head. "You're sorry that I'm too sensitive to handle the truth," she spits, "not because you're the one that needs to change." She looks at her father across the silent table, bitter smile only growing at the shock in his eyes. "Come talk to me when you realize I'm not the problem here," she tells him sweetly, raising her glass in a quick cheers before downing the rest of it in one go. She pushes her chair out a bit rougher than necessary, smiling at the rest of them kindly. "Now, if you'll all excuse me, I'm going to bed," she tells them, nodding once before sending a quick look Natsu's way.

She was looking for an excuse to leave anyway.

As she leaves the room, she hears another chair scrape across the floor, followed by a muffled goodbye and the sound of footsteps following behind her. It doesn't take a genius to realize who it is. Neither of them say a word to each other as they head up the stairs and it's not long before Lucy's stepping through the doorway into her temporary room, not bothering to turn on the lights as Natsu shuts the door behind her with a click.

She turns around slowly, facing him, and her bones _hum_. Natsu stares down at her questioningly for a moment, eyes searching hers. Apparently, he finds what he's looking for, because in the next moment her back is pressed up against the door roughly as Natsu lifts her straight off the ground, his hands on her thighs as he shoves her against the nearest wall with a bang that she hopes no one downstairs can hear.

Her legs curl around his hips as he settles against her, mouth meeting hers in a fiery kiss. Her head tilts back against the door at the rough touch, her fingers sliding over his chest before threading through his hair, pressing his lips even tighter to hers. He leans into her, hands squeezing her thighs tightly as he presses his hips into hers. His teeth nip at her lower lip, followed by his tongue brushing over the same spot, much like he had earlier in the night. A small sound leaves her throat, but he swallows it quickly, pressing even closer.

Shivering against him as his palms slide higher up her thighs, bunching her dress low on her hips, Lucy nips him back, catching his lower lip between both of her teeth and nibbling. He growls against her, shuddering as she sucks his lower lip into her mouth, tongue grazing it lightly before tracing over his lip ring. She pulls back slightly, teeth grazing the steel loop with interest, the cool metal contrasting greatly with his warm mouth. Groaning against her mouth, Natsu tears his lip from her grasp, resting his forehead against hers as he pants against her, eyes blinking open to lock with hers, gaze burning against hers.

"I've been wanting to do that all damn week," she tells him between heavy breaths, her chest heaving against his.

Natsu grins before diving back into her mouth, his tongue sliding across the seam of her lips slowly. She squirms against him, tugging at his hair harshly, which only serves to encourage him. She grins against his mouth, lips parting in order to let him in, her entire body shaking with a sigh as his tongue sweeps into her mouth, running across the back of her teeth and trailing over the roof of her mouth—tickling her.

Lucy gives the intruding appendage a sharp suck, grazing him with her teeth and he pulls out of her mouth. Natsu retaliates immediately, his hands on her hips jerking her forward as he bucks against her, causing her to gasp against him, hips pressing back with equal pressure as she feels him stir against her thigh. His hands slip higher up her bare thighs, his palm warm against her skin as he presses her harder against the door, leaving barely any room between the two of them.

His teeth tug at her lip again, coaxing lewd sounds from her which he muffles with his lips. He grins against her mouth, pleased with the sounds leaving her, and grinds against her hip, causing her to gasp.

Her fingers rake through his hair, tugging at the bright strands ruthlessly, fingers twisting and pulling as he presses harder against her, hips shifting against hers. Her nails dig into his scalp and he moans in the back of his throat, the sound muffled by their connected lips. His fingers dig into her leg, squeezing roughly.

She smiles against his lips, hands slipping down to cup his face, fingers stroking his cheeks. Her hips circle against his slowly, surprising him into a groan, and then she bucks against him roughly, startling him and tearing a snarl from his chest, his teeth sinking into her lower lip. He pulls back slowly, reluctantly, and she catches his upper lip between her teeth briefly before pulling away completely. His forehead presses against hers, both of them breathing heavily, but it doesn't stop her from leaning up to steal another kiss, dragging him down by his tie.

Natsu smiles, nuzzling her cheek as her hands slide down his chest. Lips meet her skin once more, hot wet kisses trailing over her jaw and down her neck without warning. "I was going to ask you out that day after class," he murmurs against her neck.

She gasps, squirming against him as he roughly bites and sucks at her pulse point, lips trailing up and down her soft skin. "Oh," she breathes back, panting as he continues to peruse her neck, tilting her head up to give him better access. "Were you?" she murmurs, eyes slipping shut as he finds a particularly sensitive spot.

He leans into her, pressing her harder against the door. He hums lowly, the sound rumbling from somewhere deep in his chest. "But Jose held you after class," he continues, mouth trailing kisses up from her neck to her jaw and then to her ear, nibbling at the lobe and making her wriggle against his lower half. "I had to leave," he breathes against her ear, warm breath sending a shiver up her spine.

She gasps as he trails back down, head tilting to the side as he starts planting hot, open-mouthed kisses along her neck. He bites her roughly suddenly, and she yelps, surprised, but he quickly soothes the spot with a slow lick, a hard suck following soon after, sure to leave a bruise that will be hard to hide. Lucy huffs. "You could have asked the next day," she tells him.

One of his hands slip down, groping at her ass over her dress and grinding her hips against his. A hiss leaves him at the rough contact, his head falling forward to rest against her bare shoulder, still peppering kisses against her skin. "Would that have made a difference?" he asks her, echoing his words from the first night.

One of her hands fists around his tie, the other slides lower, down between their hips. "Well," she murmurs against his ear lowly. "We could have been doing this a hell of a lot sooner." Her fingers ghost over his hips before grasping his arousal through his clothes, palming him roughly.

Natsu moans against her bare skin, teeth pressing into her shoulder to muffle the sound. One of his hands slams against the wood beside her head, his hand clenched into a tight, desperate fist. His mouth leaves her, his breaths ragged as he presses into her hand, forehead dragging against her shoulder roughly. A low whine rips from his throat as she releases him. He leans back just enough to look at her.

Her eyes meet his, wide and curious, but he merely grins. Her legs squeeze around his waist, tugging him forward, and his hands slide back up her legs, skimming over her hips before slipping around her back. Lucy's hand slides to his chest, grasping his messy tie and jerking him down to her lips once more. He sighs, content as her lips move against his slowly, languidly, as if they have all the time in the world.

She pulls away once more, ripping her lips away from his and arching her back into him. "My grandmother thinks you're in love with me," she murmurs. She doesn't know why she says it, but it's been nagging at her all night. Lucy's hands drop down to her thighs, fisting the hem of her dress and sliding it upwards. She tosses it too the floor a moment later, eyes locking with his as her dress hits the ground.

His gaze doesn't leave hers, though one of his hands does drift to the newly bared skin of her stomach. "Your grandmother seems like a wise woman," he tells her, shrugging slightly as his green eyes bore into hers.

She rolls her eyes, tugging at his belt slowly, tapping her fingers against the buckle, hiding a smile when he shifts against her. He swallows hard, eyes flicking down to her fingers for a brief second before darting up to her eyes once more. Lucy leans forward, lips brushing his chin. "Is that an affirmative," she breathes against his skin, mouth moving along his jaw, touching, but not quite kissing. He groans at the frustrating contact, her hand sliding over his length through his jeans teasingly.

"It's something," he tells her, gasping as she squeezes. He pulls her hand away, grinding into her roughly, drawing a keening sound from her.

She nips his chin harshly at his answer and he yelps, surprised. "I'm sorry I never noticed you in class," she breathes against his skin. Her hands fly to his shoulders as his fingers trail over her inner thigh. She begins peppering kisses along his throat to distract herself from the feel of his hands on her body.

Chuckling lowly, he curls his fingers around her thigh. "You said that already," he reminds her, mumbling the words as she continues to trail kisses along his neck.

Lucy's mouth leaves his skin with a wet pop. "Yeah, but I really mean it." She lets her mouth hover over his, just millimeters away from touching him. "You're a nice guy Natsu," she tells him, curling her arms around his shoulders. Her voice lowers as she tilts her head, breathing the words against his ear. "But right now, I don't want nice." Her hands go back to his chest, fumbling with the buttons on his shirt haphazardly.

He stills for a moment, but then his grip tightens on her legs and he steps away from the door, forcing her to lock her legs around him to hold herself up. He shoves away from the door with one hand, twisting on his heel to cross the room. He drops her on the bed gently, settling on top of her a moment later, chest pressed against hers.

His hand moves higher on the leg hooked around his hips, tracing the edge of her underwear teasingly with a finger. Lucy shivers at the light touch, shifting against him. When he doesn't move, Lucy huffs, shifting and lowering her hands to her hips, slipping off her underwear without a second thought, which seems to spur him into action.

She inhales sharply as his thumb traces over her slit, barely touching her. He skims over her clit and she hisses, twitching and arching off the bed. Her hands fly to his shoulders as he does it again, fingers sinking into his rosy hair and tugging. Lucy shivers at the teasing touch, hips jerking into his hand in frustration, trying to increase the friction in a feeble attempt to relieve the aching between her legs.

Natsu pulls away suddenly, drawing a low whine from Lucy. She blinks up at him, watching as he pops the buttons of his shirt slowly, grinning down at her teasingly. His tie is tossed to the ground, followed quickly by his shirt, and then he's on her again, fingers skating across her thigh in slow circles for a moment before moving back to her slit, fingers stroking harder, ghosting over her sex, never quite touching her where she wants him.

"Natsu," she whines lowly, shuddering as his thumb rolls over her clit. "Please?" He grins against her jaw and she begins to think he's ignoring her, but then two of his long, tapered fingers sink into her easily, his thumb continuing to roll over her clit in small circles. She gasps, but he quickly smothers the sound.

He chuckles at her reaction, shivering as her warmth squeezes around his fingers, sucking them in deeper. He nibbles her lower lip, fingers curling inside of her, dragging along her inner walls slowly. Lucy whimpers, hips swiveling to meet his hands, shamelessly rising to meet his slow thrusts as best she can, a particularly rough thrust causing her lips to fly from his as she curses, nails digging into the back of his neck.

"Shh," he murmurs, lips quirking into a teasing smile. "You've got to be quiet, Lucy."

She wants to kiss that smile right off of him. And she does. Lucy yanks his lips down to meet hers, eyes squeezing shut as his fingers nick a spot inside of her that makes her jerk against him.

Lucy gasps as his fingers thrust against that spot again, striking it with just enough force to pull a whine from her throat and make her shamelessly press up against him. His thumb flicks over her clit again and she can feel herself tipping over the edge. His fingers keep prodding a special spot relentlessly, her walls making wonderfully horrible wet, sucking sounds as he drags his fingers out slowly, only to slam them back into her a moment later.

And then he pulls out.

Lucy groans as his wet fingers trail over her thigh. He sucks in a sharp breath as her lips brush his jaw, her hands sliding up his bare chest. Her wrists snap back down, palms flat against his abdomen as her hands drag down roughly, pulling a grunt from her partner. Her hands lower even farther, grabbing him by the belt and yanking him forward to thrust her hips against his roughly from beneath him. Natsu gasps, shoving his erection against her core as she works on removing his belt with deft fingers, making quick work of the leather.

The belt hits the floor with a clack, sounding all too loud in the otherwise quiet room.

A moment later she's scrambling to pop the button on his jeans, utterly vexed with the but of fabric keeping them apart. She succeeds a moment later, hand snaking below his pants and boxers, grasping him firmly in her palm as her fingers slide up his length, tearing a filthy moan from his mouth. She hides a grin against his throat, but knows he can feel it against his skin. She kisses up his neck, nipping at his earlobe. She gives his cock a squeeze, thumb moving over the mushroomed head in fast circles as she smears the drops of pre-cum dripping from him. Her fingers run along his shaft slowly, fingers stroking the velvety, incredibly warm skin. He hisses, thrusting his hips into her hand as she plays with the slit.

A low whine escapes him as her hand begins to slide over him, matching the movements of his hips. "Lucy," he gasps, panting above her as she changes the angle of her wrist. She grins against his throat. "Fuck!" he growls, squeezing her hips tightly as she does something wonderful with her fingers.

She releases him a moment later, receiving a whine in return as she removes her hand from his pants. He catches her lips in a burning kiss, catching her off guard and leaving her breathless. Her hips rub against his slowly, feeling his cock, hot and pulsing against her core, brush against her sensitive clit, drawing a hiss from her. She leans up, placing her teeth against his throat, before pulling back and pressing her lips against his skin in a soft kiss.

Natsu grinds his uncovered erection against her slit, the flared head sliding along her slick opening. His hips roll against hers and he groans into her mouth at the frustrating contact. Lucy rips away from his mouth, biting her lip, eyes squeezing shut as he lurches against her, member slides along her entrance slowly. She whines again, shifting to meet him and he slips inside of her easily, a low, guttural sound rumbling in his throat as he drops his forehead to rest against hers. Lucy arches her back as he enters her completely, seating himself inside her.

Lucy sighs, panting against him and Natsu lowers his mouth to meet hers in a bruising kiss. Her arms curling around his neck and fisting into his hair as he holds himself over her.

Her legs tighten around his hips once more, silently urging him to move, and he smiles, shaking his head slightly. "You all right?" he whispers, groaning as her hips shift against him. He slips into her further.

"Of course," she scoffs, squeezing her hips around him. Natsu hisses while she laughs. Her hips circle against his languidly. Natsu mumbles something that she doesn't quite hear, squeezing her thigh as he swears softly. Lucy smiles. "Are you?" she teases, noticing his shoulders tense, muscles flexing beneath his skin.

He huffs, pulling out of her slowly only to slam into her roughly a moment later, stealing her breath from her lungs. She gasps at the unexpected thrust, eyes squeezing shut tightly, It's followed by another, and then another, until he's sliding over her relentlessly—hips snapping against hers roughly. Her nails dig into his skin as her hips jerk up to meet his, matching his thrusts with her own as she circles against him slowly.

Her walls suck at his retreating length as he pulls out, the head of his cock rubbing against a sensitive spot along the top of her walls—the same spot his fingers had teased earlier—and she stifles a moan. "Natsu," she gasps, his name thick on her tongue. Lucy arches against him, letting him hit deeper inside of her.

He slams into her to his own rhythm—fast and rough and leaving her unable to simply _breathe_. All she can hear is him panting against her ear and the wet, filthy, skin against skin slap every time he drags his length out of her, removing all but the head before rocking back into her.

"Lucy," Natsu whispers back to her, voice hoarse and breathy. He hisses as she squeezes around him, her hips rolling against his roughly. He swallows down a moan, his eyes rolling back as she clamps down on him tightly. His lips trail down her neck, nipping at her exposed collarbone. He thrusts into her harder and faster, pulling out less than he did before, and she whimpers, gasping. Her hands slide to his back, nails dragging along his skin harshly as the tip of his tongue trails along her collarbone teasingly, teeth grazing her, goose bumps rising along her sweat slicked skin. Her fingers twitch against his clammy back, her head spinning, the air around them suffocating and all too hot.

Natsu grunts against her neck, a deep, strangled sound passing his lips. He stills briefly, panting, and then begins jack-hammering into her center. Above him, Lucy whimpers, clinging to his back. Natsu snakes one hand between her legs, thumb rubbing furiously at her clit. She starts to cry out, but Natsu's mouth slams against hers to swallow the sound, hips jerking against his and practically sobbing at the intense feeling coursing through her body. His breathing becomes erratic, mixing with the sticky slap of his skin against hers. Natsu buries himself inside of her so unbelievably fast that the breath is knocked from her lungs. A finger joins his thumb at her center and he pinches her clit roughly once. She tenses at the rough touch, his name stuck in her throat as her body spasms around him, walls clenching and unclenching rapidly.

The pounding doesn't stop, his fingers still moving against her quickly, only prolonging her release. White light blinds her vision, her legs twitching against his back, her walls quiver around him, then clench down tightly, breaking his rhythm. A horrible, wet sucking sound breaks the silence as he pulls back, his thrusts suddenly becoming frenzied.

She whispers his name and his hips snap forward, his cock twitching inside of her once before he tears away from her, breaking her leg lock on his hips as he releases against her thigh, groaning lowly against her ear.

His forehead drops onto her shoulder, arms slipping around her as he pulls her into a soft embrace, breathing heavily. Her thumbs rub circles into his shoulder blades as she nuzzles his ear, panting against him and simply trying to catch her breath.

* * *

 **AN: One part left! How you all enjoy it! Don't forget to review and tell me what you think!**


	8. You, Me, and the Hickey, Too

**AN: Alas, the final chapter is here! There will be an epilogue posted sometime within the next week, but I'm not sure when!**

 **Deck the Halls, Bitches**

 **Part Eight: You, Me, and the Hickey, Too**

* * *

 **Sunday, December 25th**

Her nose is cold.

That's the first thing Lucy registers upon waking up. The rest of her is warm to the point where it's bordering on making her itchy with sweat—thankfully, that's not the case. She's quite comfortable all curled up against Natsu's chest with her limbs tangled into an absolute mess with his—but her nose is cold. Now, usually this wouldn't bother her in the slightest if she were at home, however, Makarov never turns on the _damn heat_ in this house, so rather than her nose being a little chilly, it feels like it's about to freeze off.

Lucy quite likes her nose on her face, thank you very much.

She groans, refusing to open her eyes as she clings to the last bit of sleep tugging at her subconscious. For once, she's perfectly content with just lying here and not moving at all—soaking up the afterglow, so to speak. She's ridiculously warm, she's extraordinarily happy, and, do to unfortunate circumstances, she's also very much awake.

Huffing, Lucy cuddles closer to Natsu's chest, her bare skin pressing against his wonderfully as she tangles her legs with his, hooking a leg around his in order to drag herself closer to him. Her arm crawls across his stomach slowly beneath the blanket, fingertips barely ghosting across his skin as she slips her arm around him. Natsu sighs beneath her, his own arms tightening around her, fingers curling loosely against her skin, making her shiver slightly against him.

Lucy shifts herself upwards, wriggling against him slightly as she shifters her head from his chest to the crook of his neck in order to bury her cold nose against his skin. She sighs against him as he squirms at she sudden chill, clinging tighter when he start to shift away. Keeping her eyes squeezed shut, Lucy presses herself upwards slightly, just enough to press a gentle kiss against the underside of his jaw. His pulse jumps beneath her lips, but she merely lets them linger against his skin, in no rush to pull away from him. Her fingers begin to move, tracing nonsensical shapes against her side with a lazy touch. She pulls back slightly, only a breath away from him, before leaning in once more, pressing a second butterfly kiss to his skin.

It's nice—just lying here next to him, as if the rest of the world just doesn't exist. It's quiet and warm and Lucy is completely and utterly content to just lie here and cling to sleep. Maybe, if they don't go downstairs they can just stay here forever.

Lucy brushes her cold toes against Natsu's bare legs, stroking them slightly. A low groan leaves Natsu's throat at the sudden chill and she hides a smile against his throat. He huffs, arm curling tighter around her as he feels her grin, his fingers curling around her hip and squeezing suddenly, drawing a soft, surprised squeak from Lucy.

Natsu laughs, his chest vibrating against hers, and Lucy realizes he's a lot more awake than she assumed he was. Her lips twist into a puzzled half-frown, not entirely sure why he's even awake at the moment. Not once has he woken up before her in their few nights together—which isn't all too strange, given that Lucy barely sleeps and wakes up at the crack of dawn every damn day. Usually, she's up before the sun, which kind of sucks, if she's being honest. So, either Natsu didn't get much sleep at all last night, or Lucy finally managed to sleep in later than six in the morning for the first time in literal months.

Her lips pull into a smile once more, giddiness flooding through her. She's always had insomnia—but she's never taken medication for it because she hates how it makes her feel. She doesn't like feeling groggy in the morning or the way it feels like there's cotton shoved into her mouth—and it's never really been a huge issue with her. She's always gotten just enough sleep so that it hasn't hurt her grades or made her feel sick. However, she has suffered through some nasty headaches in the past.

It's just that the insomnia got worse after her birthday during the summer, when her date had called her to try to hook her up with one of his many rich, snobby coworkers that were old enough to be her own father. She hadn't been able to sleep for more than a few hours at a time after that.

That's why she started taking the late shift at the bar with Gajeel. Getting some extra cash seemed a hell of a lot better than staring at the wall and willing herself to fall asleep.

Natsu suddenly slips two fingers underneath the fabric of her underwear, skin warm against hers. He snaps the fabric against her skin gently, teasing the skin beneath playfully. Natsu's fingers begin to trace strange shapes against her naked hip as he pulls her closer to his side and Lucy smiles.

He snaps her panties against her skin again and leans in to graze her teeth against his neck, nipping at him playfully in retaliation. Natsu chuckles, twisting to press his lips against her forehead as best he can and intertwining their legs even more, if that's even possible at this point. Maybe she shouldn't be quite this cuddly with someone she's known on a personal level for just under two weeks—though, that's rather moot at this point, considering he had her pressed up against a wall and moaning last night—but there's just something about Natsu that makes her feel comfortable. It's like she already knows him like the back of her hand. Hell, she's told him some things she hasn't told anyone else besides her family. He's held her when she _cried_.

That means more to her than he'll ever know.

And maybe it will all end after they get home, but then again, maybe's don't mean shit to her.

Natsu's thumb brushes over her hip softly, barely ghosting across her flesh, and Lucy shivers at the soft touch, his fingertips tickling her bare skin slightly. "Good morning," he murmurs against her hair, breath warm against her skin. His arm curls around her tighter, drawing her flush against his side almost languidly—as if they have all the time in the world to just lie here and do nothing.

Lucy exhales heavily against his neck, finally letting her eyes slip open with a pout. Though, she certainly appreciates the view in front of her, she thinks, gaze trailing down Natsu's bare chest slowly, the blanket having slipped down to rest just above his hips at some point in the night. "What time is it?" she murmurs, sliding her palm up his bare stomach lazily, nails scratching at his skin gently. She glances up in time to see him swallow thickly.

He pulls back slightly, just enough to peek down at her, eyes alight with humor. "About seven," he whispers back, as if speaking too loudly will burst the little bubble they've found themselves in. Natsu smiles down at her, a slicker of amusement in his gaze. "You actually slept in today," he murmurs, his hand sliding from her hip to her rib cage, resting just beneath her breasts.

She snorts, palm settling over his rapidly beating heart. Lucy drums her fingers in time with the beating. "Seven isn't sleeping in," she mumbles against his collarbone, letting her eyes slip shut once more. Natsu laughs against her hair, the low rumble vibrating through the both of them. She grins against his skin.

"It is for you," he muses, fingers tapping against her ribs gently, drawing a breathy giggle from Lucy as she rolls onto her stomach and hooks a leg between both of his. She props herself up against his chest, caging him against the bed with her arms and resting her chin against his chest. Natsu sends her a lazy grin as he stares down at her, palms sliding down to rest against her bare thighs.

Lucy wets her lips, staring down at him, something curious and wonderful in her gaze. She shifts against him slowly, pressing a lingering kiss against his beating heart. "We had sex last night," she tells him, more so than asks. Lucy tilts her head to the side slightly, peering up at him and positively stealing his breath away. Her thumbs brush against the naked skin covering his ribs, barely ghosting against him in slow circles.

She's not sure why she's saying it out loud—the evidence of what they did is very clearly scattered across the room for them to see in early morning light. The sun has just barely begun to rise—a sliver of light peeking through the curtains and casting shadows on the wall beside them. Maybe she needs reassurance of what he said to her last night. Maybe she needs something more than that. Maybe she just needs to _say it_ because that makes it real.

Swallowing a bit thickly, Lucy's gaze shifts from his briefly before snapping right back, gauging his expression with mild trepidation.

His grip on her thighs tightens just the slightest, fingers pressing into her skin and leaving little indents on her chilled flesh, the blanket slipping from both of them to pool around their tangled legs. His eyes never once leave hers. "Should we not have?" he whispers, as if speaking too loud with utterly shatter the moment and send them slipping into something sad. He swallows as well, gazing down at her with something heartbreakingly honest in his eyes.

Not for the first time, Lucy wonders if her grandmother is wiser than Lucy has ever given her credit for.

Lucy finds herself unable to look away. "I didn't have any problems with it," she tells him, voice a bit shaky, but entirely honest. She wouldn't change a thing about last night. Not one single thing. "Did you?" she asks gently, voice dipping so low that she can barely hear herself. There's something pleading in her voice—something begging him to tell her that last night meant something—that all of this _meant something_.

Because it sure as hell meant something to her.

And Lucy isn't in love, she knows that, but maybe she could be, given more time.

Or maybe Ida's right, and they're all just too scared to call it that, because only fools rush into things like this. Though, maybe they're fools in love, all the same.

Natsu's fingers slide from her thighs to her waist slowly—almost lazily as he stares at her, gaze drinking her in and swallowing her whole. His palms are warm against her sides, and that's when Lucy's heart decides to do something funny in her chest, positively squeezing with something she can't begin to describe. "I can't say that I do," he whispers back to her, his own heart stuttering beneath her lips.

Her lips curve into a small smile at his words, but she hides it against his chest, placing another soft, slow kiss against his heartbeat. She knows that he can feel it, judging by the way his own lips curve up at the ends. "Okay," she tells him, but a breath away from his skin, "then, we're good."

He nods, still staring down at her. His fingers tap against her waist lightly, drawing her gaze to his face. When she does, he grins down at her, pulling his lower lip between his teeth, gaze practically sparkling. "Do you think they heard us?" Natsu asks her playfully, drawing a fingertip all the way up her spine to the base of her neck, drawing a shiver and a breathy sigh from Lucy.

She giggles, shaking her head. "God, I hope not," she tells him, shifting upwards so she's hovering directly above him, lips mere inches from his. "They'll never let me live it down if they did." She laughs again, wrinkling her nose as she thinks about how noisy they must have been last night. They weren't exactly screaming for all to hear, but there's still the off chance that they may have been a tad louder than they should have been.

There's a good chance that Laxus may have heard something, but he wouldn't dare make fun of her for it. Lucy had caught him and Mira in some rather compromising positions back before they were married. He knows better than to mock her.

"Well, you did start it," Natsu reminds her, finger sliding back down her spine slowly. He grins as she wriggles against him, arching into him as his fingers brush against her skin. Natsu lets out a little laugh as Lucy huffs.

She sends him a dirty look, eyes narrowing just the slightest as she peers down at him critically. "You're the one that shoved me against a door," she snaps back, trying to fight back a smile. "And it's not like you did anything to stop me," Lucy tacks on, leaning up to nip at his chin.

Natsu laughs outright this time. "Touché," he murmurs, palms sliding back to her hips as Lucy swings a leg over his hips, straddling him. She grins at him, hovering just a breath away from his lips.

"It takes two to tango, Honey," she tells him teasingly, leaning back just the slightest as he tries to kiss her, playfully avoiding the advance. Her thumbs brush against his rib cage once again, drawing a little sigh from somewhere deep in his chest.

His eyes lock with hers, an equally teasing glint in his own eyes. "Does that mean I get to call you babe, now?" he jokes, squeezing her hips softly as his warm breath puffs against her lips. His nose bumps against hers, he's so close, but neither of them make to pull away.

She leans in, placing a butterfly kiss against his exposed skin. He shivers beneath her, and Lucy's smile widens as she continues to pepper his jaw with little kisses, humming to herself when he tilts his head slightly to give her better access. Lucy's grin turns wicked. She wets her lips, leaning down to whisper in his ear. "Whatever the hell you want," she murmurs against him, one hand slipping down his side to finger the hem of his boxers.

Natsu rolls the two of them over, pressing her against the mattress gently. For a moment, he simply stares down at her, one hand rising to cup her cheek, thumb brushing against her skin slowly. "Good," he finally says, smiling down at her fondly. And then he leans down, kissing her softly. She smiles against his mouth and he releases her after several long seconds, beginning to place little kisses against her cheek and jaw and chin.

"Is that all you've got?" she teases, looping her arms around his neck, fingers tugging at his hair. He takes the bait, leaning down to kiss her again, only harder this time, mouth pressing against hers with just enough pressure to make her head spin. She grins against him, sliding an arm down around his shoulders. His teeth nip at her lower lip, followed by his tongue brushing over the same spot playfully. She sighs against him, feeling him smile against her mouth.

He hums against her lips, palms sliding up her sides slowly. His tongue teases the seam of her lips, silently asking entrance that she grants easily. His tongue sweeps into her mouth, brushing everywhere, skimming over the back of her teeth and the roof of her mouth, wrapping around her own, already familiar with her from the night before.

She gives the intruding appendage a sharp nip and he retaliates by gripping her hips sharply, making her gasp against him. She tugs at his hair and he growls low in his throat, pressing closer still. His teeth tug at her lower lip again, nibbling it and tickling her slightly. Lucy giggles against his lips, feeling them quirk up into a smile a moment later. She quickly catches his lower lip between both of hers, nipping at him before drawing her tongue against his lip ring. He pulls away from her with a wet pop, breathing heavily. She simply smiles up at him, panting as well.

"And how was that?" he pants against her ear, lips trailing across her cheek and jaw and chin lowly. He's not kissing her anymore, just _touching_ her. She tilts her head to the side and his smile widens, his lips trailing down her neck languidly as he settles on top of her, pressing her further into the mattress. He finds a particularly sensitive spot just below her jaw and Lucy releases a shaky breath.

She wheezes out a little laugh, completely breathless as she clutches at his arms. "I've had better," she jokes, humming slightly as he continues to peruse her neck lazily. An amused sound leaves him, his arms curling around her back underneath her and pulling her flush against his chest. His lips press against her rapidly thrumming pulse, her breath catching in her throat as his teeth graze her skin.

"Hey, Lucy," he murmurs against her throat, placing butterfly kisses all the way down to her collarbone, hands sliding high on her back play with the clasp of her bra. He bites down on her neck gently, and she can't seem to catch her breath, merely humming in response. His lips leave her neck suddenly, and when her eyes flutter open they lock with his. Natsu leans down, nuzzling her cheek softly and making her giggle before pulling back once more. "When we get home," he starts slowly, gaze locked with hers, "do you want to go on a real date?" Natsu asks her, wetting his lips and swallowing thickly, something like trepidation shinning in his eyes.

Her breath catches in her throat, eyes widening just the slightest as she stares up at him. She uncurls her arms from around his neck, fingers trembling slightly as she cups his face in her hands. Out of all the things she was expecting him to say, that hadn't been one of them. Her cold fingers smooth against his skin gently, and he leans into her hand, pressing a soft kiss to her palm, eyes never once leaving hers.

"I would love to," Lucy tells him, smiling up at him softly, heart squeezing in her chest. Natsu's lips twist up into a grin, a toothy smile spreading across his face before he ducks down and presses a kiss to her temple, tucking her under his chin a moment later.

They seemed to have done this backwards, Lucy thinks, smiling against his collar bone and leaning up to press her lips against his skin. Him meeting her entire family before the two of them have even gone on one date, and all. She doesn't mind, though, if anything, it just proves that their relationship will be interesting.

Lucy likes interesting.

Before either of them can say anything else, there's a banging on the door. "Hey, Lovebirds!" Loke calls from the other side of the door, something sarcastic in his voice. "Put your clothes on and get down here so we can open shit!" he tells them, voice slightly muffled. A moment later, Lucy can hear him walk away.

Natsu shifts away from her, his eyes wide and alight with amusement as he peers down at her. Lucy groans, wrapping her arms around his back and pressing her face up into his neck. Another defeated groan leaves her as Natsu laughs.

"I think he heard us," he date tells her, his laughter vibrating through her.

Lucy hits him with a pillow.

* * *

By the time Natsu and Lucy managed to get downstairs, everyone else was already settled around the tree, waiting patiently for the pair of them. Granted, it had taken them a longer time than should have been necessary for them to finally leave their room—which is entirely Natsu's fault really. They would have been down much sooner if he hadn't have shoved her up against the door again in order to pepper kisses down her exposed neck.

Unfortunately, neither of them had bothered to look in a mirror that morning, leaving the pair of them completely unaware of several very important marks on their exposed skin. Lucy had managed to cover up most of the light bruising on her hips and thighs, tossing on a pair of leggings and Natsu's shirt from the night before in her rush. The collared shirt was buttoned haphazardly, crooked at the bottom, but she couldn't have cared less about the buttons, given the way Natsu had slid his hand under her shirt and up to her chest as soon as he saw her in it, slipping a hand under her bra to squeeze her breast.

She had giggled and shoved him away reluctantly, telling him to put a shirt on so they could join everyone else.

Lucy never once thought to take a look at her neck in the mirror as she pulled her hair up into a messy bun, far too distracted with the way Natsu kept pressing butterfly kisses against her shoulders and the back of her neck.

It was only after they made it downstairs and saw matching smirks on the adults' faces that she realized something wasn't quite right. Lisanna had taken one look at her and burst into laughter, Bixlow doing the same a moment later. Loke had shot the two of them a disgusted look, blanching at them and turning away, pretending to gag. Aries had blushed, sending Lucy a small wave, but unable to meet her gaze. Mira smirked at the two of them, waving off her blissfully unaware children and placing a placating hand on Laxus's arm.

Her father, of course, looked nothing short of disgusted as he turned away from her, but that's nothing Lucy isn't used to. He father never was able to look her in the eye without something shameful in his gaze. Ida, however, had a very curious reaction. The woman had smiled at Lucy, very much the cat that got the cream, her gaze drifting from Lucy's eyes, the her neck, and finally to Natsu in rapid succession. Her smirk had only widened at Lucy's confusion before Ida finally tapped a finger against the side of her neck slowly, grinning all the while.

It had taken all of ten seconds for Lucy to realize what her grandmother meant, her eyes widening comically as she remembered Natsu's rough treatment of her neck the night before. She had briefly lost her breath in that moment—remembering the way his lips and teeth and tongue had felt against her sensitive neck as he pressed her against the door, hands squeezing her hips as he rocked against her and—

It had taken everything Lucy had not to slap a hand over the hickeys covering her neck, and when she looked up at Natsu, he at least had the decency to look sheepish. Though, she couldn't entirely blame him, as her gaze locked on a rather tender looking spot just beneath his jaw, the skin there slightly discolored.

Well if her family hadn't heard them, they definitely knew what happened after seeing them.

That had been nearly an hour ago, however, and most of her family seems to have either forgotten about it, or simply decided not to bring it up. Which is a good thing, obviously. She really doesn't need to have a chat with her family about her sex life. Her disheveled state had also kept her father away during the whole gift giving process. He had taken one look at her and then left the room completely, much to her amusement.

Thankfully the Christmas haul was over and everyone had dispersed throughout the house. Lucy had received a multitude of gift cards for Christmas, an old necklace from her grandmother that must have been an heirloom, three pairs of colorful thermal socks from Aries, and Loke had thrown a condom at Natsu when no one was paying attention.

Lucy hadn't missed how he shoved it into his pocket, her thighs clenching slightly as he sent her a look out of the corner of his eyes.

The family room is quiet now, everyone disappearing to do their own thing. Laxus and Mira went upstairs to pack as Elfman whisked the twins outside to play, Evergreen trailing behind them. Ida and Makarov are in the kitchen chatting with Loke and Aries about when their wedding would be, and Lisanna and Bixlow are plopped onto the couch beside Natsu and Lucy, cuddling together and staring at the other couple with wicked grins.

Frankly, Lucy doesn't give a damn where her father is.

Lucy sighs, leaning back against Natsu's chest as he curls his arms around her, fingers plucking at the hem of his stolen shirt absentmindedly, his chin coming to rest against the top of her head as he pulls her onto his lap. He hides a smile against her hair, the fingers of his free hand coming up to rub against one of the bite marks on Lucy's neck almost apologetically— _almost_ , because he doesn't even try to hide the satisfaction in his eyes or the way his lips twist into a smirk against her hair.

"Hey, Lucy," Lisanna coos suddenly, leaning off the couch slightly to poke her head in front of Lucy from where she's curled up on the floor. The other girl blinks her big, blue eyes at Lucy, fluttering them innocently, but Lucy narrows her eyes slightly, not missing the evil glint in her friend's eyes. "You're still coming to the party right?" Lucy nods slowly, unsure what Lisanna is getting at. The other girl beams at Lucy's affirmation, smirking. "Good! Your hickey can come too, if it wants," she tacks on slyly, giggling.

Lucy swats at her friend, but misses as Lisanna jerks back, cackling. Bixlow snickers as well, and Lucy can fell Natsu's lips against her temple, attempting to placate the fuming girl in his arms. His grip on her tightens, and Lucy crosses her arms with a huff, knowing she won't be able to reach Lisanna. "Shut up, Lisanna," she settles with, sending her friend a dirty look. It's not a good comeback in the slightest, but it's all Lucy has at the moment.

"What!" the other girl giggles, mock offense crossing her face. "I'm just being polite," she tells Lucy, eyeing the bruise on Lucy's neck appraisingly. Lucy blushes. Lisanna had pulled out her phone earlier to give Lucy a good look at just how good of a job Natsu did on her neck. The hickey is big, an off purple color towards the center and red at the edges, and exceptionally sensitive to the touch, she learned when Natsu pressed him lips against it when no one was looking, drawing a shaky gasp from Lucy. _Jerk_. "I want your hickey to know that everything is okay and I appreciate it," Lisanna tells her, patting her on the shoulder before reaching out to poke the hickey lightly.

Lucy raising an eyebrow at Lisanna, lips pursing slightly. "You appreciate my hickey," she says blankly, sarcasm threatening to creep into her words. She holds it back though, eye twitching slightly in annoyance.

It's just a hickey, dammit. It's not like she's sprouted wings or a purple dragon is trying to crawl out of her neck. Actually, that would be really gross. Eww.

Lisanna claps her hands in front of her, grinning widely. "Well, yeah," she says, scoffing like it's obvious. "Look at that monster!" she continues, throwing her hands up. "Natsu did a damn good job." The man behind her grins, one arm leaving her waist to high-five Lisanna. Lucy elbows him in the stomach. He ignores her.

Natsu presses a quick kiss against her forehead, lips twisting into an amused smile. Lucy rolls her eyes, thinking he's way too okay with all of this. "If you think that's good, you should see what Lucy did to my back," he tells the other couple suddenly, an utterly serious look on his face.

Lucy gasps, nearly choking on her spit. "Natsu!" she hisses, utterly mortified by his comment.

Bixlow quirks a brow, reaching over Lisanna to pull up the back of Natsu's shirt and asses the damage. Lucy groans, shifting to bury her face against Natsu's shoulder. Bixlow whistles approvingly at what he sees. "Damn, Bro," he muses, clearly impressed with Lucy's handy-work. "She got you good." He drops Natsu's shirt and turns to Lucy, who glares. "I didn't know you were a freak, Lucy," he jokes, jerking back to avoid a slap in the face.

"Shut up, Bixlow," she hisses back, baring her teeth at him threateningly. So maybe she did do a number on Natsu's back. So what? He certainly wasn't complaining about it at the time! And why is she getting made fun of for the massive hickey? That was Natsu's fault, not hers! They should make fun of him instead! "I hope you choke," she tells him, pouting slightly.

Bixlow gasps, placing a hand over his heart in mock hurt. "Rude!" he barks at her, jabbing a finger in her direction. "Rude and uncalled fo—"

Lisanna slaps a hand over his mouth, cutting him off before he can finish. She rolls her eyes, turning back to Lucy, the humor leaving her eyes slightly. "But, seriously," she starts, you are still coming right?" Her head cocks to the side curiously. "I need to know a rough estimate of people so I can get Bixlow to buy enough alcohol."

Said man pulls his girlfriend's hand away from his mouth, frowning at her slightly. He quirks a brow at her, crossing his arms and sending her a curious look. "Why do I have to buy it?" he complains, staring down at the girl on his lap.

Lisanna rolls her eyes playfully. "Because I said so," she jokes, jabbing a finger into her boyfriend's side and making him yelp. He bats her hands away, but smiles nonetheless.

"Fair enough," he replies, shrugging halfheartedly.

Lucy rolls her eyes at the two of them, tilting her head back to rest against Natsu's shoulder, a small smile playing on her lips as she curls closer to his chest, feeling his arms tighten around her just the slightest. "Yeah, we'll both be there," she promises, much to Lisanna's excitement. She's pretty sure she promised this last night, but it's probably good to reaffirm their plans now that everyone is sober. "Cana won't miss a party and I can probably drag Gajeel along, too," she tacks on.

"And they'll both be bringing dates?" Lisanna asks, peering down at Lucy.

"Most likely." Lucy shrugs, lips pursing as she thinks about her friends. Cana will definitely want to bring Kagura with, and even if the other girl isn't really the party type, Cana will probably drag her along anyway. Gajeel will go with enough hounding, and Lucy can get Levy to go easily enough. "Cana's persuasive and Gajeel won't go unless I can get his girlfriend to go, too, but she loves me, so she'll come if I ask."

A little underhanded? Definitely. Does she care? Not at all.

Lisanna beams at her. "All right, cool! I can't wait!" Her eyes narrow suddenly and she twists to face Lucy directly.

She raises a brow. "What?" she asks Lisanna, sighing slightly.

"Will your hickey be coming too? I only ask because—"

Lucy reaches behind herself blindly, latching onto the first thing she finds, and then tosses a handful of wrapping paper at Lisanna, who merely laughs as the shiny gift wrap does absolutely nothing to her. Lucy pouts slightly, then rips a bow off of another scrap of paper. She lunges forward, slapping the sticky part onto Lisanna's forehead as the other girl squeals in surprise.

That'll teach her.

* * *

By noon, everyone is gone besides Natsu, Lucy, and the other Heartfilias. Laxus, the Strauss's, and their significant others all left around ten in order to make it to a Christmas Day lunch with Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna's parents. Loke and Aries left not long after them, the pair having a five hour drive ahead of them and not wanting to get caught in traffic on their way home. The goodbyes had been full of hugs and promises to see each other soon, as well as Lucy swearing to come visit the twins the next time she has time off.

All in all, the weekend went pretty well, save for a few hiccups between herself and her father, but she doesn't want to think about that at all. Maybe next time they'll work through some of their issues, but it's too late for that right now. She barely even wants to look at him and he clearly has nothing to say to her. And she's okay with that. Maybe now he's finally gotten the message and he'll leave her alone.

"Goodbye, Zvyozdochka," Makarov tells her, pulling Lucy into his arms from his spot on the porch. The pet name rolls off his tongue lovingly, arms squeezing around her tightly as he murmurs goodbyes against her hair, some in English, others in thick Russian as he repeats them over and over.

Her heart squeezes in her chest, tears coming to her eyes as she hugs her grandfather. She really does wish she could see him more, but it's hard with the schedule she keeps. If she finally manages to be promoted from an intern at Sorcerer Weekly, maybe she can quite her job at the bar and have more free hours to visit her family. "You too, Dedushka," she whispers in response, pulling back just enough to smile at him.

Makarov grins back at her, lifting his hands and resting them against her cheeks softly, cupping her face in his palm. She raises her hands, fingers curling around his wrists. "I better see you soon, yeah?" he asks, smiling wider when she nods, tears spilling over her eyes. He wipes them away with his thumbs, shaking his head softly. "You were away too long," he murmurs, voice thick with emotion.

Lucy nods again, laughing through her tears. "You will," she tells him softly, swallowing back a sob as she stares back at her old grandfather, praying that this won't be the last time she sees him, just as she does every time she has to leave. Makarov's age always scares her and she hates that he's alone in this house, but he won't leave and she respect that. "I promise."

"Good," he replies, releasing her with a grin, "you stay away too long," he jokes, turning from her to pull Natsu into a hug as well, much to the younger man's surprise. Lucy giggles, heart warming as she watches her date's arms curl around her grandfather.

She turns to Ida, who sweeps her into her arms straight away. "Goodbye, Lucy, my dear," she coos, releasing her just as suddenly as she had hugged her. Ida always has been a flighty one, always flitting around and never staying in one place for too long. Lucy has no idea when she'll see Ida next, but she supposes that's half the fun. "I'll see you soon," Ida promises, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Don't have too much fun, yeah?" she jokes, glancing behind her at Natsu, winking.

"Grandma!" she gasps, scandalized, but Ida merely cackles and releases her, practically skipping her way to Jude's car and tossing the door open.

Lucy shakes her head, giggling, and sighs when Natsu walks up behind her, arms curling around her waist gently as he tugs her against his chest. Lucy tilts her head back, smiling up at him as she hears Makarov chuckle and head back into the house. Natsu grins right back at her, leaning down to press a kiss to her cheek, before unwinding his arms from her and lifting his bag from the ground, tossing it over his shoulder before wiggling his eyebrows and dashing to her car. She giggles again, about to follow him when a voice stops her.

"Lucy," he father says sternly, stepping up to her before she can spin on her heel and take off after Natsu. She considers ignoring him, pretending she hadn't heard and just making a run for her car, but shakes the thought away. If he wants her to be the bigger person, fine, she'll be the bigger person. He's been the one ignoring her all day, not the other way around.

As much as she would love to just walk away, she just can't. He's always had this power over her—this innate ability to keep her under his thumb. No matter how many outbursts she has at him when she's tipsy and angry, she always turns back into that scared little ten year old girl whenever she's faced with him the next time. Sometimes, she considers herself something akin to a kicked puppy, always crawling back with her tail between her legs, apologizing even though she's done nothing wrong.

And maybe that's how it's always going to be. Him too stubborn to listen and change, and her too emotionally damaged to cut him out of her life for good. Somehow, she keeps hoping he'll change and that they'll reconcile, but it's been four years since she first started hoping that, and nothing's happened yet. Who knows, maybe this will be the last time and she can finally— _finally_ move on with her life.

She's tired of his sharp tongue and degrading words. She's had enough and knows that she deserves better than that—she deserves _a lot_ better than that.

"So you're going to talk to me now?" she snaps suddenly, gaze jerking up to meet his icily. Her heart squeezes painfully in her chest as he takes another step towards her, but she fights back the urge to flinch away. Lucy crosses her arms over her chest, jaw clenching tightly as her father stops no more than a yard away from her.

His eyes narrow slightly, his lips pressing into a thin line that Lucy knows means trouble. She steels herself, waiting for him to say something bitter or cruel—something more socially acceptable that slapping her across the face, but no less biting. "I tried to talk to you last night," he reminds her, back straightening so that he's towering over her, glaring down his nose at her, disappointment written across his face.

Lucy takes a half-step back, shaking her head slowly as a laugh bubbles in her throat. She swallows it down, arms curling righter around herself protectively. She's used to the disappointment, but it always hurts just as much as it did the first time she saw it. "No," she corrects him, giggling slightly. It's too high pitched, too strained, and it sounds false even to her. All of her courage from the last two nights is gone and all she wants to do is disappear. "You tried to berate me in front of everyone, thinking I wouldn't talk back," she says, a trace of venom in her words as she tries to mask the trembling of her hands.

Her father sighs heavily, as if she just doesn't understand and he's too tired to keep explaining things to her. Lucy wonders if her father thinks she's stupid—if she just can't think for herself. She knows her father is a sexist pig, amongst other things, but does he really think she's so simple-minded that she doesn't know the difference between an apology and victim blaming?

She lived with his emotional abuse for years. She knows better now, even if he still terrifies her.

"I was trying to solve the problem," her father says slowly, taking another step forward, apparently ignorant to Lucy's obvious discomfort. Or maybe he just doesn't care. That seems like the most likely option. He reaches out to place a hand on her shoulder, but she flinches back immediately, eyes wide as she stares up at him.

Lucy inhales sharply through her nose, suddenly finding her nerves as he drops his hand back to his side, seemingly startled that she doesn't want him to touch her. Lucy sneers, lips curving back over her teeth threateningly. "And which problem is that?" she asks rhetorically, not giving him a chance to respond. "The one where I won't sell my body to a strange man just so you can make a business deal?" she snaps at him, grinning sardonically. "The one where you don't listen to a word I say?" she continues, shrugging and letting out a bitter, watery laugh. "Or how about the one where you made me feel worthless for eight years? The one where you made me think I was the problem?" He takes another step forward, hand clenching at his side, but she stands her ground this time. "What about that one, Dad?" she asks lowly, voice nothing more than a whisper against the breeze.

For a moment, she thinks he must not have heard her, as if her voice had been carried away with the falling snow. Lucy suddenly becomes increasingly aware of the weather, her fingers beginning to freeze painfully from the cold as snowflakes stick to her messy hair. She'd forgotten to grab her gloves out of her bag earlier, and she doesn't need to look down to know that her fingers have begun to turn a burning red with the cold.

"I didn't know," her father says after a moment, voice softer than she's ever heard it before. Her gaze locks with his and her father has the audacity to look ashamed. Somehow that only serves to make her angrier. Is he really only realizing all of this just now? Did he seriously think the things he did were _okay_?

Lucy laughs in his face, but it's bitter, something toxic curling through her stomach. She feels sick all of a sudden. Very, very sick. "You didn't know?" she repeats incredulously, shaking her head slowly. Behind her, she hears a car door slam, but pays no mind to it. "You didn't ever stop to _think_ ," she nearly shrieks, hand flying up and fisting in her hair, "that telling your fourteen year old daughter that the only thing she was worth was what's between her legs was fucked up?" she asks, voice dipping into a whisper and cracking as she finishes. Tears burn at her eyes and she laughs again, shaking her head rapidly.

How could he have possibly thought that any of things he did were okay? He was raised by Grandma Ida, he should have known better! Then again, maybe who raises you has a lot less to do with how you turn out than Lucy ever thought. Look at Lucy, she's absolutely nothing like her father—she never wants to be.

Her father sighs again, sound tired, but she turns away from him, locking her gaze on her boots, watching snowflakes swirl through the air and land on the smooth leather before melting, leaving little streaks against her shoes. Lucy's fingers begin to tremble from the cold, but she ignores the biting feeling of her palms.

"I've made some mistakes," he says softly, reaching out for her once more, as if a hug and a half-assed acknowledgment will fix everything between them. As if all of their familial problems can be solved just like that, years of hurt and anger just brushed away like it meant nothing.

Lucy thinks her father must be the delusional one if he thinks he can touch her.

"Yeah," she agrees quietly, steel lacing her words, "you have." Her agreement seems to have shocked him, despite the fact that this is exactly what she's been saying for years now. Lucy is usually able to forgive and never forget, but this time she can't bring herself to do it. He made her life hell, she doesn't owe him anything anymore.

She just wants to go home.

Her father stands stock still as he ponders her agreement, shoving his hands in his pockets and squaring his shoulders. At least he doesn't try to touch her again. "But so have you," he says suddenly, breaking through her thoughts and causing her to take a step back in shock, her eyes going wide.

"Me?" she sputters, eyes snapping up to meet his cold ones. She's never seen love in Jude Heartfilia's eyes, at least, not directed at her. She doubts she ever will. "What the hell have I ever done?" she asks him, voice cracking. All of the fight leaves her, self-doubt beginning to creep into her mind. This happens every time they talk. He always finds a way to turn things back on her.

Maybe she is the problem after all.

He snorts, hand leaving his pocket to gesture to the hickey on her neck, the light bruising appearing ever darker against her pale throat not the she's surrounded by the snow. "Parading around with that thing on your neck," he spits at her suddenly, causing her to take a step back at the sudden anger in his voice. "Like some little harlot."

She slaps a hand over the mark, eyes wide as she stares up at her only living parent. Hurt floods through her even though she knows she should be used to comments like that by now. She's come to expect them, actually, but that does nothing to sweeten the blow.

He takes another step towards her, but freezes just as suddenly, gaze locked on something over Lucy's shoulder.

"Hey!" a voice barks from behind Lucy, tone low and dangerous. Lucy relaxes, the tension leaving her shoulders immediately as she recognizes the voice. Natsu steps up behind her and coils an arm around her hips, drawing her back against him gently. She latches onto his arm with shaking fingers, leaning back against his warm chest as soon as his arm is around her. "You don't get to talk to her like that," Natsu threatens lowly, grip tightening around her as she sinks into him.

She can't see his face from her position, but she knows Natsu isn't happy. He got into it with her father once already over break, he's clearly not going to be happy about having to do so again. At least she isn't crying this time. Natsu might just knock her father out if she was.

"I'm her father," she hears her dad argue, a lilting scoff to his voice, as if he finds it amusing that Natsu doesn't like the way he talks to Lucy. Then again, what has her father ever cared about what anyone thinks about the way he talks to his own daughter? Out of every aspect of his life, that's the one thing her father's never given a damn about.

Natsu practically growls against Lucy's ear. His fingers dig into her side harshly, but she can barely feel it. Natsu, however, loosens his grip immediately once he notices it. "And I don't give a shit," he snaps back at her father, glaring at Jude over Lucy's hear, rage boiling in his eyes. "You don't get to talk to her like that," he repeats with a snarl, fingers splaying across Lucy's stomach, as if covering more of her with make her disappear from her father's gaze entirely.

"Natsu," she whispers gently, sighing slightly. Talking with her father just isn't worth it. She slides a shaky hand from his arm to his palm and his hand relaxes, letting her thread her fingers through his gently. She squeezes his fingers, shaking her head softly, but he ignores her in favor of continuing to berate her father.

"You know you made her cry, right?" Natsu continues, voice so low she almost can't hear him. She didn't realize how angry he must have been the last time, when he walked into the kitchen and saw her crying. He seemed more concerned with getting her out of there then, but now she's not crying and apparently Natsu's fuse is a hell of a lot shorter than hers.

Lucy sucks in a shaky breath, back straightening as she clutches his hand tighter. They need to leave, now. "Natsu, just leave it alone," she says softly, so only he can hear, but he just shakes his head and gives her hip a gentle squeeze with his free hand. Clearly, he isn't as ready to walk away from this as she is.

He continues yelling at her father, though much softer this time, all traces of steel leaving his words as he speaks. "You made your daughter cry herself to sleep," he tells Jude quietly, voice accusing and utterly unfriendly, and Lucy glances up in time to watch her father flinch back as if he's been slapped across the face. "What kind of parent does that?" Natsu asks, malice lacing his tone. The question is mocking bitter and harsh, but not asked angrily. Natsu manages to mask his rage with curiosity, as if truly wondering how Jude could do something like that.

He father swallows thickly, but his voice is shaky when he finally manages to say something. "You know nothing about me, Boy," he retorts.

Natsu just laughs. "Yeah, well, neither did you," he reminds her father, "but that didn't stop you from taking one look at me and writing me off, did it?" Her father doesn't answer, but Lucy doesn't care at this point. "Frankly, I'm just calling it like I see it." Natsu unwinds himself from her arms, taking her by the hand instead. "Stay the hell away from her unless you have something that's not bigoted to say," Natsu snaps, tone final. He gives Lucy's hand a tug, and Lucy lets him lead her away from her father with a light touch, his free arm coming up to wrap around her shoulders.

Behind her, she can hear her father's car door slam shut, the car pulling into reverse a moment later. She releases a shaky breath, shaking her head softly.

Natsu stops about halfway to her car, stepping in front of her and cupping her face with his warm hands. Lucy blinks up at him, meeting his eyes slowly. There's still anger burning in his green eyes, but it dims when she looks at him, melting into something soft and sad. "Are you okay?" he murmurs, caressing her cheeks with his thumbs, gaze flickering across her face slowly, searching for something.

Lucy sends him the best smile she can manage, but it isn't much. "Yeah, I'm fine," he whispers back, hands fisting against his shirt. She sighs, eyes squeezing shut for the briefest moment. "Let's just go home," she tells him.

"Okay," Natsu nods, but doesn't move, instead, he steps forward and wraps his arms all the way around her, one hand moving to tangle in her hair as the other rubs soothing circles against her back over her jacket. Her own arms slip around him, drifting to his back under his leather jacked and tangling with his shirt. Natsu squeezes her against his chest, pressing his cheek against the top of her head gently.

She wets her lips, swallowing thickly as she presses the side of her face against his chest, feeling his heartbeat against her ear loudly, as if threatening to beat straight out of his chest. "Thank you," she whispers, cuddling closer to him.

Natsu doesn't respond for a long while.

"So about that date," he says suddenly, changing the subject so easily that it causes a surprised giggle to bubble out of her throat. He smiles against her hair, shifting to place a gently kiss against her temple, lips lingering there as he continues to speak. "How do you feel about Mongolian takeout and watching movies on my couch?" he murmurs against her skin.

Lucy pulls back just enough to peek up at him, a soft smile spreading across her face. "I think that sounds great," she tells him honestly, pressing up on her toes to place a soft kiss against his lips. When she pulls away he leans down to snag another quick kiss, making her giggle once more.

In hindsight, she's glad that she wasn't able to take shifts at the bar this week. If she had, she never would have meet the man standing in front of her, heartbreaking honesty shining in his eyes as he peers down at her, something soft and fond in his expression.

This may just be her favorite Christmas yet.

Natsu leans down to give her another soft kiss and she meets him halfway, arms raising to loop around his neck and pull him closer to her.

* * *

 **AN: Originally, I was going to end this with Natsu and Lucy getting in her car and Natsu asking her out on a date, but this seemed to work better :) New Year's party epilogue will be posted at some point in the next week!**

 **I know some people are probably going to be mad about there not being a resolution for Lucy and Jude, but that's not always how it works when it comes to family.**

 **Fun fact: Makarov's pet name for Lucy is "little star" in Russian! I thought it fit nicely, so I used it!**

 **Be sure to drop a review and tell me what you thought about the chapter!**


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